Emery Harold Hallows (April 20, 1904 – September 11, 1974) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

attorney and jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

, from January 1968 until his resignation in August 1974.

Biography

Born in

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the southern end of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Fond du Lac met ...

, Hallows graduated from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

and received his J.D. degree from the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 180 full-time and part-time facul ...

. Hallows practiced law in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and taught at the

Marquette University Law School Marquette University Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of two law schools in Wisconsin and the only private law school in the state. Founded in 1892 as the Mil ...

. In 1958, Hallows was appointed to the

and became chief justice of the court in 1968 serving until his retirement in 1974. Hallows won elections to his seat on the court in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

and

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

. Hallows authored the Court's opinion in the influential case ''Breunig v. American Family Insurance Company'', which established the rule that a sudden mental incapacity, of which the defendant had no foreknowledge, was an adequate defense to tort liability. This rule is often known as the Breunig exception.

Personal life and family

Hallows met his wife, Mary Vivian Hurley, while they were both students at Marquette University. They married February 15, 1930, at St. Catherine's Church in

. They had at least two children together. Mary died in April 1973 after a long illness, stemming from a series of strokes. Judge Hallows announced a short time later that he was being treated for

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. He died on September 11, 1974, just a month after retiring from the Court.

References

External links

Former justices - Justice E. Harold Hallows
at Wisconsin Court System
Hallows, E. Harold 1904
at

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallows, E. Harold Politicians from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Lawyers from Milwaukee Marquette University alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni Marquette University faculty Chief justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court 1904 births 1974 deaths 20th-century Wisconsin state court judges 20th-century American lawyers