He worked as a
Supreme Court lawyer from 1916, and a
Supreme Court Justice from 1928 to 1952, The new Nazi authorities found him to be the most objectionable among the Supreme Court Justices, as Schjelderup at one occasion had insulted a picture of
Vidkun Quisling. As the Supreme Court Justices collectively laid down their posts in December 1940, Schjelderup emerged as one of the most prominent members of the Norwegian civil resistance. According to historians, this was "completely unexpected". With his influence over
Paal Berg, the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court before 1940, Schjelderup recruited Berg to the inner circle
Kretsen in 1941, which had direct contact with the Norwegian government-in-exile in
London. Schjelderup was later the messenger between
Kretsen and the so-called
Coordination Committee in the
Norwegian resistance. In addition, he attended meetings in the secret military organisation
Milorg. In 1943 he personally wrote the letter
Partisanbrevet, addressed from
Kretsen to the Norwegian government-in-exile. Approaching the winter of 1944, Schjelderup was no longer safe in Norway. He fled to Sweden. After the end of the War, he published three books called
Fra Norges kamp for retten. 1940 i Høyesterett (1945),
På bred front 1941–42 (1947) and
Over bakkekammen 1943–44 (1949). These are viewed as valuable contributions to Norwegian occupational history. ==Mountaineer==