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Charles Vaughan Sr., the Lafayette-based attorney known for his representation of Ryan White over AIDS discrimination, has died.
Vaughan died on Feb. 21 at the age of 96.
“He was, no doubt, a fearless leader. If he saw somebody who wasn’t getting a fair shake in life, he’d fearlessly run at whatever the challenge was for them and we follow that example every day in our firm,” said Charles J. Vaughan, the elder Vaughan’s grandson and Director of Operations at Vaughan & Vaughan, the firm Charles Vaughn Sr. led throughout much of his legal career.
Services are being held on Friday in Lafayette.
Vaughan was born in Lafayette in July 26, 1929. He played basketball for Indiana University in 1949-50 and earned his degree in business in 1952, two years before marrying his wife, Helen “Tudy” Golden, and moving to Chicago, according to his obituary. He spent two years as first lieutenant in the Army Finance Corps at Fort Sheridan in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Following his military service, Vaughan received his law degree from the Valparaiso University School of Law and moved back to Lafayette to work at his father’s law firm, Vaughan & Vaughan.
In 1966, Vaughan became the youngest president of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association.
“Charley Vaughan was a respected leader within Indiana’s legal community and played an instrumental role in the early growth of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association,” the organization said in an emailed statement to The Indiana Lawyer. “His commitment to the practice of law and to professional fellowship helped lay the foundation for the organization ITLA has become.”
Vaughan became a well-know trial lawyer with the firm, trying more than 200 civil jury trials over his career.
He gained national recognition after successfully representing Ryan White — a Kokomo teenager who had been diagnosed with AIDS in December 1984 following a contaminated blood transfusion to treat his hemophilia — in his lawsuit against the Western School Corporation in the mid-1980s.
At the time of his diagnosis, White was among the first high-profile cases of AIDS in children and little was known about the illness. In 1985, White’s family sued the Western School Corporation superintendent and school board after they denied his return to school because of his diagnosis.
White was able to return to school in 1986. The landmark case was significant in establishing protections for individuals diagnosed with AIDS.
“He created much of the DNA of our firm and I think it’s exemplified by what he did in the Ryan White case,” said Charles J. Vaughan. “The firm, at that time, lawyers left, staff left, because they didn’t want him to take that cause on. They didn’t think it was worth the time. And he said, ‘We’ll do it at all costs.'”
Vaughan received several accolades during his career, including being named the Indiana Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1987. He was also recognized as a Sagamore of the Wabash. In 1998, he received the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association’s lifetime achievement award.
Vaughan is preceded in death by his wife, parents and four siblings. He is survived by his four children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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