Albert Sherman Christensen

Christensen was born on June 9, 1905, in Manti, Utah, to A.H. and Jennie Snow Christensen.[1] He was one of four children.[2] Christensen's father was a successful attorney first in Manti and later in Provo, Utah.[3]^: 2 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.[3]^: 2 He married Lois Bowen of Spanish Fork, Utah in 1927 and the couple had three children.[1][4]

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.[3]^: 2 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.[1] 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.[1] In 1939, Christensen ran unsuccessfully on the Republican ticket for Congress.[5]

On May 12, 1954, Christensen was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Utah created by 68 Stat. 8. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 27, 1954, and received his commission on May 28, 1954. Christensen was sworn in on June 26, 1954, and became the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be appointed to the federal bench in Utah.[3] Christensen received a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School in 1968, and assumed senior status on August 17, 1971.[3] He was a visiting professor at the University of Utah College of Law in 1975, and at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, also in 1975.[3]

In 1975, Christensen became an adjunct professor of law at the University of Utah. From 1975 to 1977 he was an adjunct professor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, where he taught trial practice.[3]

Teaching trial practice law, a growing conviction that students and new lawyers did not have enough training in trial practice, and the urging of Chief Justice Warren Burger spurred Christensen, along with J. Reuben Clark Law School Dean Rex Lee and Chief Justice Burger, to experiment with the British Inns of Court system to try to create an American equivalent.[3] A pilot program was tested at BYU, and in the fall of 1979 a draft for an Inn of Court was created. In 1980, Christensen was one of the founders of the first American Inn of Court in the Provo/Salt Lake City area of Utah.[1] The American Inn met for the first time in February 1980 in Provo. With the success of the first American Inn of Court, a second was established in 1981 by University of Utah Students. In the fall 1983, Chief Justice Burger created a Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States on the American Inns of Court. Christensen was named the chair, and remained in that position until July 1984, when he resigned due to the deteriorating health of his wife.[3] He received the 1989 Chairman's Award for his contributions to the American Inns of Court movement. The award was renamed in his honor that year and the A. Sherman Christensen Award is presented yearly to a member of the American Inns of Court who demonstrates distinguished, exceptional, and significant leadership.[1]

Christensen continued to serve as a settlement judge in Salt Lake City, Utah until his wife's death in 1992.[3] Christensen died in Provo, Utah on August 13, 1996, at the age of 91.[1]

Christensen received many awards and distinctions in both his practice as a trial lawyer and his time as a United States district judge. He was named president of the Utah State Bar from 1950 to 1951 and received both the "Outstanding Achievement Award" (1971) and the "Judge of the Year Award" (1977) from the Utah Bar as well.[1][15] In addition, he was named an honorary member of the Society of the Bar and Gavel, University of Utah (1972); Order of the Coif, University of Utah College of Law (1973); and the Federal Bar Association (1974). Other awards and honors include "Outstanding Service Award", International Academy of Trial Lawyers (1978); "Distinguished Jurist Award", Federal Bar Association (1989); "Chairman's award", American Inns of Court Foundation (1989); "President's Award", Brigham Young University (1989); The American Bar Association Medal (1990); and the Fulbright Award for Distinguished Service, George Washington University (1991).[1] Christensen was survived by his three children, 14 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.[1]

Christensen authored six books and many academic articles. Four of his six books are on legal topics, but Christensen also authored a history of Mount Timpanogos entitled A Story of the Mountain published in 1985, an autobiography entitled The Hard Rich Soil: Some Recollections and Letters of A.H. Christensen in 1966, and two volumes of poetry.[16] Christensen's academic works include Handbook of Trial Practices in the United States District Court published in 1969, Law Briefs for Laymen in 1975, Preliminary Notes on Principles and Procedures of Superior Legal Advocacy: Where the Rules and Code Leave Off in 1976, Persons and Processes: An Anecdotal View of Federal Judicial Administration, 19554 to 1991 published in 1993, "The Abalone Shell" in 1996. In total, Christensen wrote over 200 court opinions. Eighty-five of these were reviewed on appeal with eighteen being reversed, seven affirmed with qualifications, and sixty affirmed without qualification.[3]

• List of United States federal judges by longevity of service

• Albert Sherman Christensen at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• A. Sherman Christensen papers, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University