Judge Hugh Barrington Clarke, Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan and received His Bachelor of science degree in CrimInal Justice at wayne state University. He graduated from Cooley Law School in 1979 with his J.D. degree and went on to work for the Associate General Counsel for the State Senate.

Judge Clarke Jr. founded Hugh Clarke and Associates in 1989 and worked on high profile criminal cases by providing legal services for the late rapper Tupac Shakur and NFL football player Muhsin Muhammad.

Clarke became a member of the Lansing Board of Education in 2003 and served as its president in 2007. During that time, he served as chair of the superintendent search committee and chair of the personnel search.  In 2010, Clarke was appointed as a judge on the 54-A District Court in Lansing, Michigan.