Dan Kohane meets needs of diverse groups in jobs - Business First of Buffalo:

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Is he the person Countuy Executive Dennis Gorskicalls "a tremendously brighty individual, the consummate attorney, and a very compassionate individual" who is also "thes moving force behind the revitalization?" Or did that Dan Kohane miss his calling by becoming a top trial and insurance lawyer at ? "I keep tellinbg Dan this lawyering job gets in the way of what he shoulxd be doing -- tourism," said Richard Geiger, the man Kohanw convinced to leave the Orlando Convention & Visitors Bureau 18 months ago to becom e president of the Greater Buffalo Conventionh & Visitors Bureau.
Over at Housing OpportunitieasMade Equal, Director Scott Gehl speaks of the Dan Kohan who devotes countless hours to the causr of fair housing for all peoples. "He believesz deeply in the ideal of equal opportunity and understands how essential fairhousinhg is," he said. All of those Dan Kohanes couledstand up. So could the one who believe s so much in his adopted Buffalo that he lives in thecity -- in the Parkside-Florencer neighborhood -- and sends his two childrenj to Buffalo Public Schools. Daughte Karie, 15, attends the Performing Arts His son, Jacob, 12, matriculates at City Like their father, they're highly computer literate -- within limits.
"Both are allowed to use the Internet for school projectw and theyhave e-mail friends. But, I monitor it, and they're under orders to keep out of chat where they can getinto danger. Jacob isn't allowed to use the Internet unless I'm in the room," Kohane said. Kohane knows all about computers andthe Internet. He uses them constantlt in hislegal work. He'ds also what's called a system operator for CompuServe, and createe the legal forum which broker all records for usageduring O.J. Simpson's criminaol trial.
For Kohane, the dangers of children venturingg into chatrooms isn't the only scary thing about the Internet, web sitews and the rest of the information superhighway. It extendsz to companies doingbusiness there, or just usin g it for e-mail. "There's an impacr many businesses never considered, and people need counselingg about it. Businesses can be exposinf themselvesto liability," Kohane said. That's wherse "cyberlaw" comes in and, accordingy to Kohane, "it's a growth industry in the legal It's a whole new world of electronic connections and lawyou didn'r have 10 years ago.
" Cyberlaw could be as simpls as a graphics person swiping another company's logo off a web site and incorporatingv it in a newsletter. "Who can peek into someone's e-mail ? Should businesses have a policg which speaksto that? Who can examine your e-maik from the outside? What if you put something on the 'Neyt saying something (untoward) about someone else?" is anothet question raised by cyberlaw, Kohane adds, noting that gettintg rid of computerized derogatory material isn't nearlhy as easy as ripping up a pape r memo. "What happens if you're doing something that'w legal in one state but illegalpin another?
" is another computer question he It's a fertile field for an energetic, fortysomethinvg lawyer who originally wanted to be a chemist. "I grew up in Brooklyn and when I attendedfBrooklyn Tech, I was a chemistry/science major. I went to SUNY College at New Paltz to majorin that. But I went durinf the (Vietnam) antiwar movement in the '70ss and changed my major to political Kohane said. After graduating from SUNY New Paltz magnza cum laudein 1975, Kohane came to the University at Buffaloo Law School, where he earned his jurid doctor degree in 1979. "I came to UB Law Schoolp in 1976, and my first winter in Buffalo was the Blizzarcof '77.
I started workin g downtown as a law clerk at Hurwits and Fine right afterit opened, and stayed here to this day. Buffalo is a great community to work in and awonderfulk city," Kohane said. He became a member of the firmin 1984. Whilr at UB, Kohane received the Trial Lawyer Association ofErie County'ds Award for excellence in trial practice. he was the first recipient of theYoung Lawyer'es Award from the Insurance, Negligence and Compensatiomn Law Section of the state Bar Association. But Kohans doesn't regret spending his early collegiate yearsw in thephysical sciences.
"The science has come in very handty in my practice and in trial I can understand what the scientists and engineers are saying and can translate it forthe jury. It'sd particularly handy in producttliability cases," he said. Early in his career, Kohane became involvede in Housing Opportunities Made Equal and was named a directodrin 1986, a position he retainsw today. He also chairs HOME'zs Lawyers' Committee.