Douglas McCollam: A Requiem for Heavyweights

Politicians, like fighters, often don’t know when it’s time to leave the ring. My father, a champion in the field of law, didn't either.

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) © Jan W Faul

By Douglas McCollam

At first, it was hard to accept my father’s decline. In many ways he still seemed the man I’d always known. Sharp, wise, funny. Possessor of a prodigious work ethic and a continuing mastery of his favorite subject, the law. He’d been showered with academic and professional honors from almost the time he began his legal career, finishing first in his class in law school and serving as editor-in-chief of the law review. Recipient of the Order of the Coif. Inducted as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Awarded a Fulbright scholarship (which he declined). 

As he approached his mid-70s my father was still going strong. By then he was a widely recognized expert in the field of Energy Law and was regularly asked to arbitrate multi-billion-dollar disputes. With two-partners, he’d started his own law firm and built it into a major success, with dozens of lawyers in multiple cities. He was admired by his colleagues for his i…