Wren was born in
Norfolk, Virginia. He achieved the rank of captain in the naval reserves. Wren attended
Columbia University where he received an A.B. undergraduate degree from
Columbia College in 1942,
Columbia Law School where he received an LL.B. law degree in 1948, and
Yale University where received a master's degree. He was a
Fulbright Fellow, and later wrote a number of books. As dean of the Brandeis School of Law, Wren oversaw the opening of a new wing of the law school building, "doubling the space and providing a handsome home for the law library and the Brandeis papers". Following the release of the second edition in 1999, the
ABA Journal remarked that the first edition "helped thousands of lawyers and law firms enter the largely undefined area of the Of Counsel relationship". ==Personal life==