Charles T. “Tippy” Newton Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Law

Charles T. Newton, Jr. was born on June 25, 1942, in Austin, Texas, the son of Charles Thomas Newton and Ann Brashear Newton. Mr. Newton attended the public schools of Austin, Texas, where he was an outstanding student and stellar football and track athlete. He graduated from Austin High School in 1960 and enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin that fall, with the intention of going to law school.

Charles was enthralled by the academic environment where he excelled and which ignited his intellectual curiosity, which he maintained for the rest of his life. He joined Phi Delta Theta fraternity where he developed friendships that have lasted a lifetime. While at the University, Charles was elected president of his fraternity, was selected as a member of the Texas Cowboys honorary service organization and was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and Pi Sigma Alpha. Upon graduation he received his BBA with Honors.

Charles entered law school at UT in 1964 where he was an editor of the Texas Law Review and a member of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity and graduated, again with honors, in 1967. Thereafter he was selected to serve as a law clerk to Judge Homer Thornberry of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Charles joined the firm of Vinson & Elkins upon finishing his judicial clerkship in 1968. There he established himself as an outstanding trial lawyer and a specialist in antitrust litigation. He served as the Chair of the Antitrust Section of the State Bar of Texas. In the forty-one years he practiced law, he tried and won a multitude of important cases. Charles was admitted to the partnership at Vinson & Elkins in January, 1974. Perhaps even more important to him was his long time leadership of the firm’s recruiting efforts at the University of Texas School of Law where he had a personal hand in convincing countless numbers of young lawyers to come to Vinson & Elkins. After these young men and women joined Vinson & Elkins, Charles mentored them and was proud to see many become partners at the firm.

Charles’ passion for the law will live on in those he mentored. He loved the University of Texas where he gave his time and talent for his entire professional career and Vinson & Elkins where he touched and influenced numerous lawyers and clients.