Following news that Clay C. Long ’58 passed away in May 2021, Joelle James Phillips ’89 wrote a reflection on Long’s impact on her life and career. Long was a natural-born negotiator, ferocious advocate, honored attorney, and one of Phillips’ greatest mentors.

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At Birmingham-Southern, I discovered so many of the most important people in my life. I still treasure the connection to friends, sorority sisters, theatre cast mates and professors. I even met my husband at BSC, but it wasn’t until later, when I gave him my torts outline in law school, that I think I won his heart. (It was an excellent outline.)

While I was a student on the Hilltop, I didn’t realize that one of the most important school connections I would ever make was with a BSC student who arrived at BSC before I was born. In fact, by the time I was a freshman, Clay Long had graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black and co-founded a law firm in Atlanta that would go on to become one of the nation’s finest.

I met Clay when I interviewed for a summer clerkship with Long, Aldridge & Norman. I remember that he took me to dinner in a car that had been converted to run on natural gas because he was concerned about the environment. He was the first person I can remember talking about climate change. Clay didn’t just talk; he devoted his talents to conservation, chairing the Georgia Conservancy Board and working with policy makers to protect Georgia’s environment.

In my first year at the firm, I was lucky to work on a case with Clay. My most vivid memory of that experience was a meeting during which Clay rejected an option presented because it was morally wrong. He didn’t make a production of it, and he didn’t entertain any discussion about whether the client agreed. He was a fierce competitor, but he would no more consider an unethical move than he would have cheated at tennis – and I would never have bet against him winning in or on the court.

Clay was so comfortable in his own skin. He knew who he was and what he cared about. In a profession where outsized egos are common, Clay didn’t seem to need any affirmation from the crowd. He was funny but didn’t need the whole room to hear the punch line.

I was heartbroken that the BSC family lost such an important and dear friend. Clay’s example will forever inspire me.

Read more about Long’s legacy here.

This story was included in a special law edition of From the Hilltop, Birmingham-Southern’s alumni email newsletter.

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