I rarely will write about personal matters in this Monday Morning Message, but because of something special that happened this past weekend, I want to tell a story about my parents.
After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School, my father, Stanley M. Fisher, clerked for Charles C. Simons, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (at an annual salary of $4,500), and later for Sixth Circuit Judge Potter Stewart before he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. My father was the first person outside of Washington D.C. to serve as President of the Federal Bar Association, the first Life Member of the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, President of the American Counsel Association, and Life Member of the National Uniform Law Commission. He was appointed by President Clinton to the Federal Service Impasses Panel and served as an Adjunct Professor at our own Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.
On May 22, 1953, when I was just 1½ years old, I received the following letter which hangs proudly on my office wall today.
“ My dear Lee:
When you grow up and after your baseball and football days are over, and then you follow in your father’s footsteps and become a lawyer, then you may, perhaps, stumble
upon something in the books that I have written. You will be able to say, ‘ Well, I knew that man and I know that my father helped him in the writing of these things.’ And, maybe by that time your father may also become a Judge and then you will think that maybe your father got some benefit out of his association with me. If so, you will have to remember that if he makes his mark in his chosen profession that it will be due mostly to his brains, his industry, and his good judgement.
And if you, too, become a lawyer, you will remember, I hope, that your father, gained his place in the profession not through luck or association but through diligent study and hard work, and that if you want to follow him you must depend on those qualities more than upon your circumstances. Anyway, I hope that in those future days that you will think kindly of an old fellow sitting at his desk and trying to work out problems, the solution of which will be good for the people and institutions of our country.
Cordially yours,
Charles C. Simons, Chief Judge
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
This past Saturday evening, I had the privilege of presenting the Federal Bar Association’s (“FBA”) Elaine "Boots" Fisher Award to my long-time friend,
Judge Dan Polster of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The award was established by the FBA Northern District of Ohio Chapter as a memorial to my mother, who dedicated herself to helping those facing significant life challenges. The award is given each year at the Federal Bar Association’s national convention to a FBA member who has demonstrated exemplary community, public, and charitable service. My brother-in-law, Steve Miller (Managing Partner, Miller Goler Faeges Lapine LLP) and I nominated Judge Polster for this award not only because he is an outstanding federal judge but also because of his outstanding record of community service. Judge Polster and I were high school classmates and he knew both my father and mother.
As a litigator and business lawyer, my father’s dedication to the law, and to his colleagues, staff, and clients was extraordinary. I was always struck by the fact that in each of the law firms he worked, it was the secretaries, paralegals, and mail room clerks who would go out of their way to tell me how much they loved and admired my father. To the consternation of his law firm partners, he was well-known for not charging his clients for much of the work he performed on their behalf. My father never achieved his dream of serving as a federal judge, but he certainly looked like one. He had a role in 1995 as a judge in a TV movie, “Escape from Terror: The Teresa Stamper Story.” He had a great sense of humor, and sometimes when asked by a new acquaintance what he did for a living, he would deadpan, "I'm an actor."
I was born while my dad was in law school, so, in a sense, I was born a 1L- a first year law student. As I presented the Elaine “Boots” Fisher award Saturday night, I thought about my mom and dad. I reflected on the privilege of serving as Interim Dean of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and the reason I became a lawyer and have spent my career at the intersection of law, justice, and public service. I chose my path because of their example.