The bulk of the Motley papers document her professional life. The papers include correspondence, manuscripts, memoranda, speeches, interviews, photographs, audio cassettes, and memorabilia.

This collection contains the papers of lawyer and legal scholar Herbert Wechsler. The various documentation includes Wechsler's work with the United States Department of Justice (including documents from the Nuremberg and International Military Tribunals), The American Law Institute (including the work of the Model Penal Code), Columbia University, and several other organizations to which Wechsler contributed or with which he was affiliated. The collection also contains papers related to Wechsler's legal work, including documents pertaining to his work on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Wechsler's scholarly work is also collected here including drafts of articles, books, speeches, and special lectures such as his Oliver Wendell Holmes Lecture, "Toward Neutral Principles of Constitutional Law". The Herbert Wechsler papers also cover various points of interaction Wechsler had with other figures in his field including Francis Biddle, Telford Taylor, and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. The genre of documentation is primarily correspondence, reports, and writings with annotations. The collection also contains some ephemera and photographic materials and one audiocassette.