Academic

Fathers Day

By Tim Zinnecker

A big shout-out to fathers everywhere, as we honor you on Sunday.

For many of us, our father is a hero, an inspiration, a teacher, a role model, a mentor, a friend.  Long after our father may pass away, or even after we leave the roost and start our own family, our father continues to influence many of our lives in both large and small ways.

So this post prompts a question:  in your current position (law student, practicing lawyer, legal academic), how does your father affect your daily activities?  Is it something he said?  Something he did?  Something he taught you?  Is it a character trait that you try to emulate?

One of the more valuable (and practical) of life's lessons that my father passed along was the importance of paying attention to detail.    Not surprisingly, given that I teach some of the thorniest statutory provisions encountered in the law school curriculum (the UCC, banking, and bankruptcy law), the value of this lesson (to me, anyway) cannot be overstated or overappreciated.  To a significant extent, then, my father continues to have a noticeable and positive impact on my life every time I prepare for, and teach, my classes.

How about you?

Pictured:  my father, Robert W. Zinnecker, at one of his favorite spots -- Bear Lake, in the Colorado Rockies.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on June 19, 2009 (boomark / email).