On Tuesday, Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice John V. Hendry, and former product liability attorney, announced that he will retire after eight years of service. The announcement took his fellow Supreme Court justices by surprise, but was apparently made for two very good reasons. The 58-year-old cited a desire to spend more time with family and to live at a more relaxed pace.

His reasons for stepping down are breath of fresh air in an era marked by a variety of more notorious and scandalous motivations for stepping down (Kenneth Lay comes to mind).

Hendry excelled in product liability law and by 1995 was considered to be one of the top liability litigators in Nebraska.

The retirement is effective Oct. 2 of this year.