Albert Sherman Christensen

Albert Sherman Christensen (June 9, 1905 – August 13, 1996) was a trial attorney, author, and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Christensen was the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be appointed in Utah. He authored six books, volumes of poetry, and many legal articles. One of Christensen's most significant contributions to the legal community was his establishment of the United States' first American Inn of Court in 1980. Education and career Christensen was born on June 9, 1905, in Manti, Utah, to A.H. and Jennie Snow Christensen. He was one of four children. Christensen's father was a successful attorney first in Manti and later in Provo, Utah. As a boy Christensen worked as a clerk in his father's office, where he met individuals such as Arthur V. Watkins, A.H. Christensen's law partner and future United States Senator. Christensen attended Brigham Young University from 1923 to 1927, where he met his wife. He married Lois Bowen of Spanish Fork, Utah in 1927 and the couple had three children. In 1927, Christensen moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked first as a file clerk for the United States War Department and later as an assistant to the chancellor of the law school at National University (now George Washington University). The chancellor was impressed with Christensen's work and offered him a scholarship to attend the university's law school. Christensen received a Bachelor of Laws from National University School of Law (now George Washington University Law School) in Washington, D.C. in 1931, after which he joined his father's law firm in Provo and practiced with him as a trial lawyer from 1932 to 1942. Following the outbreak of World War II, Christensen served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1945, returning to private practice in Provo from 1945 to 1954. In 1939, Christensen ran unsuccessfully on the Republican ticket for Congress.