Born in
New York City,
New York, Metzner received an
Artium Baccalaureus degree from
Columbia University in 1931 and a
Bachelor of Laws from
Columbia Law School in 1933. He was in private practice in New York City from 1933 to 1934, and was a research assistant for the Judicial Council of the State of New York from 1934 to 1941. He served as President of
The New York Young Republican Club from 1942 to 1943. He was counsel to the General Jewish Council in 1941, and was then a law secretary for Justice William C. Hecht of the
Supreme Court of New York from 1942 to 1953. He was an executive assistant to
Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. from 1953 to 1954. He returned to private practice in New York City from 1955 to 1959, and was also a member of the State Law Revision Commission of New York in 1959. ==Federal judicial service==