William Wemple (November 3, 1912 – February 25, 2002) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

Biography

Wemple was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on November 3, 1912. He attended the Wardlaw School 1924-28, and then the

Loomis School The Loomis Chaffee School (; LC or Loomis) is a selective independent, coeducational, college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, including postgraduate students, located in Windsor, Connecticut, seven miles north ...

, graduating in 1930. He then attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, receiving his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1934. During his time in college, he was captain of the Harvard soccer team in 1933. He then enrolled in

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

and received his

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1937. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

of New York State in 1938. In August 1937, Wemple joined the New York

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is an American white-shoe law firm with its headquarters in New York City, and an additional office in London. The firm is known for its complex and high profile litigation and mergers & acquisitions ...

. He worked there until April 1942. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Wemple served in the

United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary o ...

's Office of General Counsel (DON-OGC) beginning in April 1942. He began as Assistant Counsel of the

Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and relate ...

, then became Counsel of the Bureau. He was then promoted to Assistant General Counsel of the Navy, and finally, from July 27, 1946 to August 23, 1946, he was

General Counsel of the Navy The General Counsel of the Department of the Navy is the senior civilian lawyer in the United States Department of the Navy, U.S. Department of the Navy and is the senior legal adviser to the United States Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the ...

. During his time at DON-OGC, Wemple also served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

, becoming a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in January 1943 and then a

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in September 1943. He was released from the Navy Reserve. Upon leaving the Department of the Navy in 1946, Wemple became a partner at Root, Ballantine, Harlan, Bushby, & Palmer (the predecessor firm of

Dewey Ballantine Dewey Ballantine LLP was a corporate law firm headquartered in New York City. In 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae to form Dewey & LeBoeuf. Dewey Ballantine underwent numerous name changes throughout its history ...

References

* Robert T. Swaine, ''The Cravath Firm and Its Predecessors'', Vol. I (1948), p. 149.
William Wemple's obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wemple, William 1912 births 2002 deaths General Counsels of the United States Navy Lawyers from New York City Military personnel from New York City Harvard College alumni Columbia Law School alumni Cravath, Swaine & Moore people 20th-century American lawyers Wardlaw-Hartridge School alumni Loomis Chaffee School alumni