'Well-rounded and happy'

Longtime C. Falls city attorney reflects on a life in law

It's the little things that suggest there's another side to Eric Kaplan outside the law office and courtroom.

His license plate says YYGY, code for "Wise Guy."

His cell phone plays Weezer's "Troublemaker."

He met his 21-year-old son, Joshua, in Spokane a couple of weeks ago for a Death Cab for Cutie concert. And he's got tickets to an upcoming concert of indie rock band The Decemberists.

Then there's the time he and a couple of Florida State University fraternity brothers got arrested for burning "FSU" on the University of Florida football field during a pre-game prank - subsequently leading police on a high-speed chase through Gainesville.

Contrast that with Kaplan's law career.

The longtime Columbia Falls city attorney, who retired last week, has the highest peer-review rating with Martindale-Hubbell, a prestigious law directory that ranks attorneys according to legal ability and professional ethics.

During law school, he was executive editor of the University of Florida Law Review.

His first case out of law school went to the U.S. Supreme Court. And Kaplan spent more than a decade as a high-powered antitrust trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

KAPLAN'S ability to work hard and play hard served him well through the years as he built his law practice in Columbia Falls. His philosophy: "Unless you're well-rounded and happy with what you are doing, all of the business in the world isn't going to make you a successful lawyer."

Justin and Stephanie Breck are now at the helm of Kaplan's law office and have been sworn in as Columbia Falls city attorneys as Kaplan heads into retirement after finishing a couple of remaining cases.

Kaplan, 61, has split his time between his private-practice and city-attorney duties since 1994.

As he packed up his law-office belongings a couple of weeks ago, Kaplan reflected on a multifaceted law career that has spanned 35 years.

"I wanted to be a lawyer ever since I was young," he recalled. "It seemed very appealing. And I'm pretty good at arguing.

"I enjoyed the banter," he added. "It comes naturally."

Kaplan spent his boyhood years in Brooklyn, playing stick ball on the street "like you see in the movies," he said.

He remembers Nathan's hotdogs at Coney Island and train trips to Long Island to the beach.

And the Brooklyn, then Los Angeles Dodgers.

Kaplan was such a fan that he hollowed out a textbook with a razor to hide his transistor radio so he could listen to the World Series and other games during school.

"I remember at night lying in bed listening to Dodgers games," he reminisced.

Sandy Koufax, the Dodgers' star left-handed pitcher, was his idol. One of Kaplan's most prized possessions is a baseball signed by Koufax, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton. It was given to him by the late Steve Howe, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

"I grew up a Dodgers fan and I've stuck with them," Kaplan said.

HIS FAMILY moved to Florida when he was in the fourth grade. And although Kaplan had a "pretty high" IQ, he was an underachiever in high school and college.

"I didn't pull it together until law school," he said.

After completing his undergraduate degree in social welfare at Florida State, Kaplan went to law school at the University of Florida and excelled. In addition to being editor of the university's Law Review, he was a member of the school's Moot Court team and competed nationally. He also was in the school's honors program.

Framed original letters to Kaplan from Edward Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover and Hale Boggs are evidence of the leadership role Kaplan took as editor of the Law Review.

"All three of them wrote articles for the Law Review," he said. "The University of Florida was pretty highly regarded."

Ironically, Kennedy wrote about universal health care in the Law Review in 1971 and 38 years later still is pushing for universal health care.

Kaplan's goal was to land a job in Washington, D.C., and he did just that, taking a position as a civil trial attorney for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for two years before moving into a position as a trial attorney for the federal government's Antitrust Division.

That job was intense.

"I'd have meetings with just me, the attorney general and the chairman of the board of major steel companies, talking about mergers," Kaplan recalled.

He spent a lot of time investigating the steel industry over price-fixing and mergers.

A highlight of his career was being sworn in to the Florida Bar by U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Douglas.

Kaplan already was working in Washington when he got notice he passed the Florida Bar exam, and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask Douglas if he'd do the swearing-in honors.

"He was one of my heroes and for me to be sworn in by a Supreme Court Justice was pretty awesome," Kaplan said. "I was ecstatic when he agreed to do it."

KAPLAN and his first wife, current District Judge Katherine Curtis, who also was a lawyer at the Department of Justice, longed for the quality of life a small town could offer and toyed with the idea of buying a small law practice.

They got their chance when Columbia Falls law partners Chris McEwan and Jim Weaver advertised their firm for sale.

In 1985 the couple flew to the Flathead for a first look, loved the area and McEwan, Weaver, Kaplan & Curtis was formed. Sometime later the name was shortened to Kaplan & Curtis.

There was a steep learning curve for Kaplan as he switched his focus from antitrust cases to small-town legal needs such as probate and wills. Paralegal Sally Miller, who worked for McEwan and Weaver before Kaplan arrived and is still on staff, was invaluable in stepping him through those early days in Columbia Falls.

Kaplan also jumped into community volunteer work and has a long list of organizations he's been involved with. He's a past board president of the Glacier Symphony & Chorale and was instrumental in starting the Flathead Valley Jewish Community. He coached youth basketball and was a charter member of Columbia Falls Rotary.

Kaplan has exhibited his photography at various venues and galleries throughout the Flathead, and delved into another layer of his love of the arts as executive producer for "Paper Dolls," an independent horror film made by a trio of Whitefish High School graduates and one of their college roommates.

"I never regretted it for a minute," Kaplan said of his small-town life. "It's a fantastic place to live. I moved out here so when I passed people on the street, I knew who they were. It wasn't to get away from the stress because I'm no less competitive here."

Kaplan and Curtis divorced a few years ago, and in 2006 he married Mary Lerner in Florida two days before a rousing Orange Bowl game between the University of Miami and FSU. His alma mater won the game, topping off a perfect weekend.

The Kaplans have purchased a home in the art-infused community of San Miguel de Allende, about three and a half hours north of Mexico City. They plan to split their time between Mexico and Columbia Falls.

Art will be prominent in Kaplan's retirement. He plans to continue his photography and wants to spend more time volunteering for the Hockaday.

"I love projects … and I'll have the time," he said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com