Listening and Helping: The Long and Varied Career of Jim Kaufman ’64

The son of a nurse and a doctor from rural upstate New York, Jim Kaufman ’64 has always wanted to help people.

“I watched it done all my life, and admired the way my mom and dad did it, and I thought, whatever I ended up doing, I’d like to make a significant difference to somebody in helping them,” Kaufman says.

That desire led to six careers across more than five decades, but Kaufman’s legal career almost ended before it had a chance to begin. 

Because of hearing loss that until then had been untreated, Kaufman was forced to leave one law school. While many in the era held a preconceived notion that someone with hearing loss couldn’t be an attorney, Albany Law School gave him a second chance. 

Fitted with new hearing aids, Kaufman flourished, though the current technology wasn’t without its drawbacks. During a moot court competition, both hearing aid batteries died just as Kaufman began his argument. “I was not hearing one sound, and I knew that the judges were going to ask me questions, and I knew that I couldn’t even hear the question. So what do you do?” Kaufman recounts. “And so I just decided I’ll do my best and answer the questions I think he should ask me.”

“I wouldn’t have been a lawyer if I didn’t go to Albany Law School, and because I am a lawyer, it allowed me to do things that I dreamed about doing all my life, and doing it in a way that dealt with people that needed me. … And that’s all I wanted to do. I just wanted to be needed.”

Getting the full picture

That experience impressed upon Kaufman the importance of listening holistically. “What I wanted to absorb, what I could understand, is being told to me or not told to me by the people I’m working with to get a picture of what’s really going on, what’s at the bottom of it,” he says. With this skill, he was able to creatively take on his clients’ challenges.

For most of his legal career, Kaufman worked with clients in the healthcare, marine, and automotive industries, helping them in litigation and business issues.

“I loved every bit of it, because I was always doing something that not only did I solve the problem from a business point of view, but it helped them do what they wanted to do to get where they wanted to go,” Kaufman recalls. He also served 14 years as a town judge, presiding over theft, domestic violence, and other matters. 

At age 62, Kaufman stepped back from practicing law, but this was far from retirement. A few weeks after he left what was then Maupin, Taylor & Ellis, one of the oldest law firms in North Carolina, he became the CEO of Australian yacht builder Riviera, a longtime client. 

A new chapter

Around this time, Kaufman discovered free time he’d never had as an attorney. He previously had written on legal topics and decided to turn his writing skills in a decidedly more literary direction. 

Kaufman’s first novel, “The Collectibles,” was published in 2010. The book tells about the interactions between a wealthy man facing a crisis and a group of down-on-their-luck individuals he was introduced to by the protagonist, an attorney named Joe. According to Kaufman, the characters were inspired by individuals he encountered throughout his career, especially as a judge. “What I liked most about [the book] was it dealt with the law, not from a legal perspective,” he says. “It dealt with the law from six people that were wonderful people that had to figure out how to live their lives in a way that worked, and Joe helped them do that.” The book birthed two sequels.

A stint early in his career as a legislative assistant in Washington, D.C. and a consulting business rounded out what Kaufman calls his six careers. Through it all, he has retained the same desire that motivated him in the first place. He says, “I wouldn’t have been a lawyer if I didn’t go to Albany Law School, and because I am a lawyer, it allowed me to do things that I dreamed about doing all my life, and doing it in a way that dealt with people that needed me. … And that’s all I wanted to do. I just wanted to be needed.”