Doing the Right Thing

 

Yoram Eckstein was 2 years old when his family fled Poland from the Nazi invasion. His family lived in Siberian labor camps with others who were part of the same exodus, including Maya’s maternal grandparents (although they didn’t yet know each other). Yona, Maya’s mother, was born in the labor camp. “No matter how destitute they were, they always managed to celebrate Passover,” Maya Eckstein says.

 

Both families returned to Poland after the war and lived under Communist rule. In 1957 the families immigrated separately to Israel, which is where her parents met, married, and had Gabriel and Maya. In September 1974 the family immigrated to the United States, where daughter Michal was born, and where both parents earned their doctorates. Her father is a geology professor at Kent State University specializing in hydrogeology, and her mother is a chemist holding several patents through her works with various companies.

 

“My parents never really talked much about it,” Gabriel Eckstein says of the Holocaust. “I know that two of my father’s uncles perished and there were other family members as well.” Maya recalls the same family reticence. “Every once in a while, my brother, sister and I would try to get them to talk, would ask them specific questions about the family, but these things were not easily discussed.” (After this interview she learned that grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from both sides of the family perished during the Holocaust.) She adds that knowing her parents’ history made her realize she had to give back to the community. “After what they went through, how could I not be a good person? How could I not try to do good works?”

 

 

In 2001 Eckstein took a sabbatical from Hunton & Williams to serve a one-year clerkship with the Honorable Roger L. Gregory, the first African-American judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Judge Gregory’s December recess appointment by the Clinton administration was three months after the court term began; he needed someone who could jump right in. “There was no downtime with Maya,” Judge Gregory remembers. “Her learning curve was almost nil. I definitely needed a good resource in my chamber, someone who was a good thinker and writer. With Maya this certainly proved to be true.”

 

With a successful year of clerking under her belt, Eckstein returned to Hunton & Williams, where she continued her litigation practice. John A. Lucas, partner with the Tennessee office, has worked with her on a variety of complex litigations. He recalls one particular case involving considerable dollars, a demanding client and multiple attorneys. “It was brief writing by committee, type-A personalities all,” he says. “And these were substantial briefs. Maya was capable of writing a first-rate product in record time.”

 

In 2003 Eckstein was awarded the American Inns of Court Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service, a national honor recognizing excellence in public interest and pro bono activities. She was six months pregnant when she received the call, and the awards ceremony was scheduled two days after her due date. The blacktie dinner was held at the Supreme Court, and Eckstein ended her acceptance speech by saying, “I’ve been willing this child to stay put, and my husband has been amusing me by going along with this.” She looked at him. “Honey, we can go and have our baby now.” At 3 o’clock the following morning she woke up with contractions. Eckstein smiles at the thought of telling the story to her son one day. “He was at the Supreme Court and he was front and center!”

 

Eckstein was front and center herself when she made partner in April 2005. Lucas comments on this with laughter in his voice. “Maya and I have an agreement to say only the nicest things about each other,” he jokes. Then he turns serious. “I’ll tell you what I told the partners when Maya was being discussed for partnership: ‘She is a superstar who does it all and does it all in a five-star manner. In the words of fighter pilots, she has the right stuff.’” High praise from a former U.S. Army ranger and four-time Bronze Star winner.

 

Her partnership came as no surprise to Judge Gregory. “What is key with her is her energy and drive to be loyal to the law. That loyalty, to paraphrase Justice Felix Frankfurter, was reflected unfailingly in her work product—the relentless ‘effort of reason to discover justice.’”

 

Eckstein currently concentrates on patent infringement litigation. “There is a lot of logic to it. It’s not just what is happening in the courts, because you also have to know what’s going on at the patent and trademark office. The technology is fascinating.” She pauses and remembers. “I protested against my parents’ scientific background. My parents are shocked that I am doing anything related to science at all.”