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Rocker Ecker's Return From His Sabbatical
I was fortunate enough to enjoy my sabbatical from May to November, 2003. Now I am back handling all of the litigation, business and professional matters that I have always done. When Ralph Peacock founded our firm more than 75 years ago, one of the hallmarks of his practice was innovation. When we initiated our firm's sabbatical policy several years ago, we were, in a sense, following in his footsteps. We recognized that the practice of law, helping people solve their legal problems, involved intensive, stressful work. After several years of study, we adopted this voluntary program. I was fortunate enough to be the first participant. Each of our partners will have an opportunity to enjoy a six-month sabbatical with no obligations to practice law during that time. We selected a system of alternating longevity in the firm and age as the criteria for the sabbaticals so as to strike a fair balance for all of our partners. Customarily, one partner per year will enjoy the sabbatical leave. I can report that during my sabbatical, I was especially fortunate to enjoy good health and spent the majority of the time with my family my wife, Diane, and our three sons, Nathaniel, Jeffrey and Zachary and with my mother, who is now 88. Nathaniel and I made several trips to Gettysburg; and I was able to bring my mother out to visit us here in Washington several times. Our only other extended trip was to Bethany Beach in the summer, which the boys enjoyed tremendously. The time I enjoyed with my family certainly gave me a chance to put in perspective the things that are really important in life. I was lucky enough to spend a fair amount of time with my son, Nathaniel, in Cub Scouts activities, including a week at Day Camp Annawana and part of a week camping out (in the rain) at Camp Heritage. A reunion with my Group Study Exchange Team that was sponsored by Rotary International (which traveled to Australia in 1973) was one of the highlights of the summer. Dr. Les Parker, Jess Stairs, Jim McHugh, Keith Neil, and I met with one of our Australian host's families, Mal and Judy Ramsey, and had a delightful dinner at the Back Porch. We also enjoyed a golf outing at Arnold Palmer's Latrobe Golf Club. Instead of my daily reading of Bible stories, Scooby Doo and Winnie the Pooh (which are just fine for my boys), I did find the time to read a number of books, including biographies of Sandy Koufax, John Paul Jones, Arnold Palmer, "A Golfer's Life," and "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, and John Grisham's "The King of Torts." A sabbatical does many things for you. It lets you relax, reflect and enjoy your life. It reinforces the value of your family, your health and your profession. It also teaches you that none of us is indispensable and that life, business and the practice of law can survive without you. When you realize that you can enjoy the newspaper, read the bridge column, do the crossword puzzle or whatever strikes your fancy, you are starting to enjoy your sabbatical. When you wake up at 3:00 in the morning and start to worry about the status of some of your upcoming trials, you realize that life is returning to normal, and your sabbatical is winding down. Fortunately, I was able to enjoy good health and the support of my family and friends during my sabbatical. I am especially appreciative of my partners in making personal sacrifices to advise and assist our clients while I was on this leave. For all of our clients and friends, I am pleased to return to the practice of law, which I deeply love, for a long time to come. |
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