Robert A. Shlachter – 50th Reunion Essay

Robert A. Shlachter

4431 SW Eleanor Lane

Portland, OR 97221

robshlachter@gmail.com

503-887-0495

Spouse(s): Mara Shlachter (1980)

Child(ren): David Shlachter (1981), Jenna Shlachter (1985)

Grandchild(ren): Sigal Shlachter (2015), Zev Shlachter (2016)

Education: Yale College BA 1969; Georgetown Univ. Law Center JD 1974

Career: Clerk, Federal Court of Appeals (1 year); Litigator, Alschuler Grossman & Pines (LA) for 16 years; Litigator, Stoll Berne (Portland, OR) 27 years

Avocations: High school and college basketball referee (16 years); high school mock trial coach (23 years); travel; Jewish community work

College: Trumbull

Where have the years gone? Although I don’t actually feel old, we certainly must look that way to the Class of 2019. When we graduated in 1969, the 50th reunion revelers from the Class of 1919 looked ancient to us!

I cannot point to any specifics as to how Yale shaped me, just general observations: I loved being around curious and motivated students and professors, I learned to appreciate great literature, and I had to push myself toward excellence (more than I had done previously) just to keep up.

Looking back at regrets, failures, and successes, a few things stand out. In 1978, my first wife and I got divorced after five years of marriage. Fortunately, we had no kids, but it was the first time in my life I suffered what I considered a big life setback, felt serious guilt, and could not shake the feeling of “failure.” With the help of friends and a very talented psychiatrist, I bounced back and started thinking once again positively about the future. That future found me when I met my wife Mara (whom I married in 1980), and in relatively short order we had two spectacular children.

I wish I had spent more quality time with my talented youngest brother, who died from congenital heart complications in 1981 at the age of 28. Learning to seize the day, my 89-year-old father and I traveled 2,300 miles in 2006 retracing the Lewis and Clark trail from St. Louis to the Oregon coast (but in the comfort of a car). The trip was particularly meaningful because my father died 10 months later.

Again, seeking to seize the day, in 1991 Mara and I made a big move from LA to Portland, Oregon, to find an environment more to our liking in which to raise our two young children. We were not disappointed. Portland is a friendly city with easy access to great recreational areas and many people who care about civic engagement and the environment.

In Oregon, my wife and I have coached high school mock trial (for 23 years) and have happily been involved in other public interest pursuits, such as Maccabi youth sports, Portland Hillel and Democratic politics.

Although I continue to practice law as a business litigator (for more than 44 years!!), I am cutting way back and trying to find new interests to keep my mind and body sharp. So far, top on the list is traveling, whether in the US or abroad. I am not a big hobby person, which at this stage in life I am beginning to regret; however, I frequently fantasize about writing lyrics for Taylor Swift songs during retirement. I am not kidding.