This series is arranged chronologically unless otherwise noted. Clippings include issues of the as well as newspaper articles and editorials. CVs and directory bios also include biographical notes for contributor lists and programs. The day planners date from 1966 through 2004 but are not comprehensive. Honors and Awards include certificates, correspondence, diplomas, programs, and speeches. Interviews include an edited transcript of a 1995 conversation with Antonio Cassese and a partial transcript of a 1996 interview with Don Anton. The small file of personal materials includes some business correspondence, a formal appraisal for a collection of Felix Frankfurter's letters that Henkin donated to Harvard Law School, Henkin's "Humor" file (including a 1940 parody issue of , which he edited), and correspondence relating to awards and festschrifts. The file is arranged alphabetically by topic. Photographs include two sets of professional portraits and three undated snapshots.

This series covers Henkin's 40+ years as part of the Columbia Law School Faculty. The bulk of the series are course materials from Henkin's teaching activities. Records from Henkin's five years as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School are included, to maintain consistency with Henkin's original arrangement. Records containing FERPA-protected student information arerestricted. The series is divided into three subseries.

Some of the larger topical files include Faculty, Human Rights, and Recommendations. Although transcripts of Henkin's 1942 correspondence with Learned Hand are included, the rest of the material dates from 1966-2007, with the majority dating from the 1990s and 2000s. The bulk of the "to be filed" or "miscellaneous" correspondence dates from 1996-2001.

Henkin was involved with a number of non-profits and professional organizations related to his research interests. He founded Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in 1978 (now Human Rights First) and was active in the Aspen Institute, particularly the Justice and Society program directed by his wife. He was also an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Major organizational activity is filed, alphabetically, under Organizations. Briefer activities, including his work with the Council of Europe and the Advisory Committee on International Law, are filed under Other Memberships. Materials include agendas, announcements, clippings, conference programs, correspondence, meeting minutes, reading lists and excerpts, and reports.

This series consists of topical materials that Henkin filed separately. There is some overlap with other series, particularly his course materials on Human Rights and International Law, but his original arrangement has been maintained. Records in this series include articles by Henkin and other scholars, citations searches from Westlaw, clippings, correspondence, government publications, journals, legal briefs and opinions, and symposia programs. Materials are arranged alphabetically by topic.

This series is divided into two subseries. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is a major organ of the United Nations and includes the subsidiary Commission on Human Rights and various sub-commissions. The more substantive subseries is from the Human Rights Committee, a treaty body of the United Nations implemented under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Henkin was one of the 18 appointed experts from 1999-2002. The HRC provides recommendations on reports and individual complaints submitted by states and their citizens.

Henkin was a prolific writer and speaker, and this series includes materials from throughout his career, although the majority dates from the early 1990s through 2002. Articles include related correspondence, drafts, and offprints, and are arranged by year and then alphabetically by title. The bulk of the Books file is publication agreements, royalty statements, reviews, and related correspondence. The file is arranged alphabetically by book title and includes materials from various revisions and reprintings. Conference Proceedings include some of Henkin's published speeches and reprints of his Congressional testimony, and is arranged by date. Unpublished Speeches and Typescripts include notes and typescripts, along with some related correspondence, filed chronologically. Henkin usually spoke extemporaneously from notes, but frequently formalized his notes after the event for potential later publication and those drafts are included here.