S. Lee Kohrman

What made Lee’s approach so impactful was the way he treated every client relationship – with care, curiosity and a deep sense of partnership. He didn’t just solve legal problems. He listened. He asked the right questions. He stood beside his clients through every phase of growth and change. That way of working, of showing up as a true business partner, is something Lee instilled in all of us. It remains a guiding principle at KJK and a defining part of who we are today.

I have so many fond memories of Lee. When I first started at the firm, he was still coming into the office every day. I began just a few months after he turned 90, and I remember thinking, “What could he possibly be doing at the age of 90, still coming in every day?” But that was Lee. He cared so deeply about this place, and about our people, and he truly didn’t want to spend his days anywhere else.  

I remember the first time he came into a partner meeting after I had started. By that point, he wasn’t attending meetings regularly, and he was probably lingering by the lunch when Jon invited him in. During the meeting, Jon was talking about our year of growth and sharing positive updates about the firm. Lee was sitting across the table and pointed at me, whispering “it’s because of you!” This was only a few months after I’d joined, and I hadn’t even realized Lee knew who I was. But that was Lee. Even into his mid-90s, he was witty and sharp as any of us, and he still knew every detail of what was going on inside the walls of KJK.

Following the pandemic, we didn’t see Lee as often, but he still made a point to show up for the big moments and social gatherings at the firm. He came to our first post-Covid gathering (negative Covid test in hand), won our 2023 chili cookoff, and even arrived without anyone knowing he was coming to last year’s holiday party – making Belleruth circle downtown to try to find parking!

My most cherished memory of Lee is when I was getting married. He asked for the link to our registry so he could “join in on the celebration”. When I thanked him and remarked that KJK was not only a fantastic place to work but also the place where I found my husband, I’ll never forget his response, he said to me: “Thank you for truly making KJK a full-service firm.”

Lee’s presence, his generosity, his wisdom, and his unwavering dedication to KJK will be deeply missed, but the guidance he shared and the care he showed for each of us will remain a part of this firm forever. I feel incredibly lucky to have known him. He was a remarkable man and will be missed.

A face like a sculpture made of granite. A handshake with a grip as strong as the roots of an oak tree. A brilliant mind full of curiosity and passion. A heart that always supported family, community, and the law.

 S. Lee Kohrman was a unique and extraordinary Jewish leader.

Even as a child, I knew Lee’s name and reputation. My parents admired him as an attorney and philanthropist. It was a distinct personal honor to be his law partner and friend.

Lee was passionate about the worldwide Jewish community and the tremendous values that it embodies in service, leadership, and humanity. Lee saved lives and supported the growth of the State of Israel and immigration particularly from the United States, Ethiopia, Soviet Union, and South America. He created international philanthropic partnerships in Israel that strengthened the economy, provided health care, stabilized troubled geographical areas, and built democracy in the Middle East.

Lee was known for being direct and had strong opinions, a challenging thoughtful approach to education, and a vision inspired in him by his father Max Kohrman to serve and improve the world.

In his long amazing life, Lee received several well deserved awards including life trusteeships, the distinguished Charles Eisenman Award from the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and honorary degrees from the University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, and Bar Ilan University in Israel.

With his passing we now mourn all three founding partners of the firm, Byron Krantz, Bob Jackson, and S. Lee Kohrman. They will never be forgotten so long as we continue to build upon the legacy of these pillars of our community and strive through our work and our relationships for excellence and values.

I have great memories—I joined KJK in 1983 when Lee wasn’t even 60 years old yet. 

Lee had a “regular” old typewriter and stacks of scrap paper by his desk. He would use a hunt and peck system and pounded out notes to colleagues and notes to the files on those scraps of paper. He never stopped to correct typos but his messages were clear. 

Lee was a very tough negotiator-his office was a few doors down from mine and I often heard his short staccato statements.  But when it came to our families —children and grandchildren-Lee had a real soft spot. 

Ultimately, I credit Lee with leading me to become a domestic relations lawyer. He brought me in on some of his divorce matters and then started turning them over to me…thank you, Lee!

When I joined KJK in November of 1985, I was already familiar with Lee Kohrman’s reputation.  I was aware of the facts that he was a highly respected and successful lawyer, and that he was deeply engaged in the Jewish community in Cleveland.  Over the next forty years, I got to know much more about Lee, not only as a lawyer and leader, but also as a man.

Working with him as a colleague and partner, I learned the reasons for his success as a lawyer.  He was exceptionally smart, totally devoted to the service of his clients, unusually creative and really tough!  It made no difference to Lee if his client’s opponent was a huge company, was represented by one of the largest law firms in the world, or was the United States government.  He would simply get to work, think things through and take decisive action.

I also witnessed his work in the community.  Whether it was deciding how the Myers Foundation could most effectively provide significant assistance to Russian Jews and to people and organizations trying to improve the lives of people in Israel, or assisting the Joint Distribution Committee to deploy its funds to improve Jewish communities throughout the world, and of course, working to improve the lives of Clevelanders who were in need assistance. Lee was always actively engaged.  Under Lee’s guidance and with the support of the firm, the idea of community service became an essential value at KJK, shared and engaged in by many of our people.  I thoroughly enjoyed discussing my community activities with Lee, and benefitted greatly from his counsel.

I also learned of Lee’s devotion to his family.  Nothing was more important to him. 

I am a better person for having known Lee Kohrman, and the world is a better place because he was in it.  Rest in peace my friend.

I had joined the law firm just nine months earlier when Mr. Kohrman called me into his office. He said he had a small project for me, then handed me a piece of paper covered in signatures. It looked like a page from a book. I soon learned it was a page from an Ellis Island registry, and one name stood out. My task was to find any heirs of this person who might have ties to the Cleveland area.

The backstory was that a friend of Mr. Kohrman, a partner at a major law firm in New York, needed help locating relatives of his late client. She had passed away, leaving behind a substantial fortune in Baltimore. She had no known heirs, but she did have a brother who had been a musician in Cleveland.

I spent weeks researching, traveling to the Cuyahoga County archives, digging through voter registrations, visiting libraries, and eventually reaching out to the Western Reserve Historical Society. That led me to a clue — a voter registration in Lorain, Ohio. Mr. Kohrman guided me throughout the process, offering advice on where to search and who to speak with.

The Lorain registration revealed the decedent’s parents and confirmed the family had originated from Poland in 1910. We shared our findings with the New York law firm, which was able to trace the family back to the Ellis Island records. Later that year, we received an email from them thanking us for our efforts. They had successfully located the family, still living in Poland, and were able to transfer the wealth — which was quite vast.

Mr. Kohrman barely knew me, yet he placed so much faith in me. He helped me realize that nothing is impossible. This story is etched in my memory and helped shape the person I am today. Thank you, Mr. Kohrman. May you rest peacefully, knowing your mentorship and teachings will live on.