Rubinstein was born in Kensington. His father Harold Rubinstein (1891-1975) was a solicitor with expertise in publishing matters. He acted on the unsuccessful defence of Radclyffe Hall"s novel, The Well of Loneliness on obscenity charges in 1928.
His mother, Lina Naomi Rubinstein, née Lowy (died 1939) was the sister of Ruth, wife of publisher Victor Gollancz.
His father also wrote several plays, which were published by his brother-in-law.
Rubinstein was educated at Street Paul"s School, London. He then studied law.
He acted for Penguin Books in the obscenity trial in 1960, R v Penguin Books Limited., following publication of an uncensored edition of Doctorate.H. Lawrence"s novel Lady Chatterley"s Lover. In the Second World War, he served in the Royal Engineers and then the Royal Artillery, being demobilized as a captain. She was a ballet dancer, better known under her stage name Joy Boulter.
He specialised in representing publishers and authors, including Chatto & Windus, Sidgwick & Jackson, Hodder & Stoughton, Jonathan Cape, Victor Gollancz, and Penguin Books.
He acted for Penguin Books in its successful defence on charges of obscenity in 1960 following publication of an uncensored edition of Doctorate.H. Lawrence"s novel Lady Chatterley"s Lover, marshalling 35 witnesses to testify to the book"s literary merit. He also represented several publishers in a Restrictive Practices Court case in 1962, which retained the Net Book Agreement that maintained minimum retail prices for books
The Net Book Agreement survived until 1997, when it was declared illegal by the same court. Dering was awarded was a derisory half penny in damages, but faced substantial legal costs.
His book Wicked, Wicked Libels was published in 1972.
He retired in 1994 and died at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage. Rubinstein"s hearing was damaged in the Second World War, but he still enjoyed music He was a director of Youth and Music and a governor of the Purcell School.
He also served the Society for the Promotion of New Music as trustee, chairman, and then vice-president
He published a book about music, Music to my Ear, in 1985.
Rubinstein acted for publishers in libel caess, including defending Leon Uris and William Kimber against a libel claim brought by Doctor Wladislaw Dering in 1964 for passages in Uris"s novel Exodus describing medical experiments conducted by Dering on prisoners at Auschwitz.
He was also a member of the Lord Chancellor"s committee on defamation from 1971 to 1974, which made suggestions included in the Defamation Acting 1996.
