Feature Friday - Michael D. Ecker - May 3, 2019

Welcome to Feature Friday!

Today, we are very happy to introduce you to, Michael D. Ecker.

Michael is a Member of the Business Division of the Philadelphia office of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC. He negotiates and documents business relationships, including emerging growth & technology, financial institutions and health law. 

Michael represents entrepreneurs, publicly and privately held emerging businesses, corporations, partnerships and joint ventures in diverse industries in a variety of corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, public and private finance and corporate governance.  His transactional healthcare and e-Commerce practice includes negotiation and preparation of software licenses, as well as joint venture, employment/severance and equity ownership agreements. 

A frequent lecturer, Michael speaks to professional organizations on subjects including legal and corporate developments in healthcare law, e-commerce, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. 

He is a member of the Philadelphia (Business Law Section), Pennsylvania (Business Law Section) and American (Business and Health Law Section) Bar Associations.  He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility. 

Michael is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Pennsylvania. A 1980 graduate of Northwestern University (B.A., economics), he received a JD/MBA from Emory University in 1984, and holds an AV ® rating from Martindale-Hubbell.  

Q: What do you like about being a lawyer?

Helping people with my advice.

Q: Why health law?

Happenstance.  Started out as a corporate/M&A lawyer.  Did an acquisition for a healthcare client, for whom I subsequently because general counsel didn’t know a thing about health care, fraud and abuse, AKS, etc., so the deal was I would spend one day a week in the law library my first year.  That’s how I got my start in healthcare.

Q: What is one piece of advice that was given to you and has stuck with you?

A couple, really.  Be thorough, thoughtful and persistent.  Don’t ask, don’t get.  You can disagree without being disagreeable.  Personal connections with friends, colleagues and opposing counsel are critical, because while we all have a job to do, we are all people too.

Q: What three things would you want with you on a deserted island?

A kindle with an endless supply of reading material, my golf clubs with an endless supply of golf balls to hit into the water and my wife, kids and good friends.

Q: You’re going sail around the world, what’s the name of your boat?

Undaunted Adventures.

Q: If you could visit any fictional land, what would it be and why? 

Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland

Q: How do you define success?

Doing what I am doing – helping people solve problems with my advice.

Q: If you could have the power of teleportation right now, where would you go and why?

The first tee at Augusta National so I could play a round of golf there. 

Q: What are three things on your bucket list?

Well, other than playing Augusta National, Carnoustie, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews, visiting New Zealand, learn how to fly fish and learn to scuba drive, then dive at the Great Barrier Reef.  

Q: If you could have any fictional job (one from a movie or a book), what would it be and why?

Ghostbuster.  Why?  To help people with intractable problems.

Q: If you could uninvent one thing, considering the consequences of uninventing it, what would it be and why?

Guns and bombs.

Q: Tell us about one of your proudest moments.

After my marriage to my wife of going on 33 years, and raising my three children who are now 27, 25 and 22, being sworn in by my father before friends and family in a private ceremony before a PA Supreme Court Justice to become a third generation attorney in my family.

Q: How does the Health Law Section impact you?

Provides useful information and timely insights.

Q: Tell us about an embarrassing moment in your life.

My mother’s extended visit to my college during my freshman year.

Q: What do you like about being part of the Health Law Section?

Insights and resources.

FIN!

We would like to extend a huge thank you to Michael for his participation in Feature Friday! 

Get to know your fellow HLS members and leaders by stopping by every Friday to check out a new feature. 

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If you are interested in being featured, please contact Rachel Blakley. All members are encouraged to participate!!!