Claude Michael Harrington – 50th Reunion Essay

Claude Michael Harrington

1010 Bayou Island Drive

Houston, Texas 77063

charrington@velaw.com

832-630-6225

Spouse(s): Josephine “Jody” Hall (1978)

Child(ren): Averill Harrington Conn TD03 (1981) (TD ’03); Jane Harrington Fowler (1982)

Grandchild(ren): Graham Kirk Conn (2011); James Michael Conn (2013); Andrew Michael Fowler (2014); Samuel Lee Fowler (2016)

Education: Yale, BA, 1969; Cambridge, Dip. Dev. Econ, 1970; Harvard, J.D., 1973

Career: Corporate finance lawyer, Vinson & Elkins (Houston) for 45 years

Avocations: Presbyterian church; American Civil War

College: Timothy Dwight

In the spring of our senior year, I could hardly wait to leave New Haven. Skipping graduation exercises, I was on the road home to West Texas within a day of finishing my last final.

In truth, my four years in New Haven were hardly the “shortest, gladdest years of life.” Academically, I did well. Yale provided me with a solid background for my eventual profession, the law. For that, I’m eternally grateful. But I failed miserably to take advantage of Yale’s extracurricular activities. Socially, I never felt comfortable at Yale.

I spent the four years following graduation—one as an econ grad student at Cambridge and three at Harvard Law—largely compensating for my ascetic undergraduate years. I chased girls and fraternized with friends over beer and cards. I studied just enough at HLS to graduate.

With only one wife and one job, my life has been pretty conventional since I emerged from the catacombs of higher education in 1973.

Incorrigible Texan that I am, I never considered taking a job outside the Lone Star State. So, after sitting the Texas bar exam, I joined the Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston. Forty-five years later I’m still practicing transactional law at V&E, although I retired as a partner at year-end 2017, and this year I’m Of Counsel to the firm, basically a salaried, part-time position. Next year, I intend to retire fully.

I did the best day’s work of my life on January 7, 1978, when I married Josephine “Jody” Hall of San Antonio. I had met Jody—a graduate of Cornell and UT Law—in Austin while studying for the bar exam. I attribute much of the success I’ve enjoyed at the bar to Jody’s steadfast encouragement, love and support.

My wife and I have two daughters and four grandsons. Our older daughter graduated from Yale in 2003 and practices law in Houston. Our younger daughter is a clinical psychologist, also in Houston. Both daughters are married to guys that Jody and I love and admire. We are fortunate to live within minutes of both daughters’ families, and we all get together most Sunday evenings for dinner.

For a guy who never so much as set foot in Battell Chapel (or any other church) during his college days, I’ve been active in the Presbyterian church for many years now. That’s another reflection of my wife’s benevolent influence on me, I suppose.

When my older daughter, Averill, committed to attend Yale, I confessed to her that I didn’t enjoy my years in New Haven. She retorted: “Now you tell me, Dad!” (As it turned out, Yale was a great fit for Averill, and she flourished there, academically, socially and athletically.) I did, however, assure Averill that my Yale education has opened many of life’s doors for me and that I take pride in being a Yale Man. By way of giving back, several years ago I endowed a scholarship for Yale undergrads from my native West Texas.