Clarence Wells Halbert was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and academic from Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. He was one of the five co-founders of William Mitchell College of Law

William Mitchell College of Law

William Mitchell College of Law, or WMCL, is a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Accredited by the American Bar Association , it offers full and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor degree....

.

Halbert was born in Binghamton, New York

Binghamton, New York

Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...

. His family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and he graduated from St. Paul High School in 1891. He graduated from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in 1895 and Yale Law School

Yale Law School

Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...

 in 1897. Returning to Minnesota, Halbert was admitted to practice in 1898 and joined a prominent local law firm managed by U.S. Senator and former Governor Cushman Davis

Cushman Davis

Cushman Kellogg Davis was an American politician who served as the seventh Governor of Minnesota from January 7, 1874 to January 7, 1876 and as a U.S. Senator in the 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, and 56th United States Congresses, from March 4, 1887 until his death. Senator Davis served in...

, future U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Frank Kellogg, and Cordenio Severance

Cordenio Severance

Cordenio Arnold Severance was an American lawyer from Minnesota. He co-founded the American Law Institute and served as President of the American Bar Association....

. Four years later, he entered into partnership with his brother Hugh, with whom he practiced for the rest of his career.

In 1900, along with Hiram Stevens, Ambrose Tighe

Ambrose Tighe

Ambrose Tighe was an American lawyer, politician, and academic from Minnesota. He was one of the five co-founders of William Mitchell College of Law.-Early life:...

, Moses Clapp, and Thomas D. O'Brien

Thomas D. O'Brien

Thomas D. O'Brien was an American lawyer, judge, and academic from Minnesota. He was one of the five co-founders of William Mitchell College of Law and a justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court....

, Halbert founded the St. Paul College of Law, the first predecessor of William Mitchell College of Law

William Mitchell College of Law

William Mitchell College of Law, or WMCL, is a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Accredited by the American Bar Association , it offers full and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor degree....

.