Jeffrey L. Rohr

Jeff Rohr has two careers – one as a Graydon attorney, the other as his wife’s literary agent.

He met Amy Tolnitch, the woman who would become his wife, when she interviewed at his first firm after law school. She practiced a number of years, until one sunny afternoon in 1993, while taking in the view from a beach on the Greek island of Mykonos, she decided to leave the law to devote herself to writing. She persevered through the standard onslaught of rejection letters and has since published four novels in the paranormal romance genre, which Jeff says has little to do with their life together – at least not the paranormal part. He’s quite proud of her.

Jeff grew up on a dairy farm in Stark County, Ohio. He learned to drive a tractor and was working the fields at age 10. His father sold the family’s 120-head herd of Holsteins after an accident put him on crutches for 16 months. Since then, he has raised corn and soybeans. It’s a big operation by Ohio standards – 400 acres that he owns and another 1,500 acres under lease. Jeff’s dad turned 78 in 2015. He is still farming, but enjoys his winters in Florida now.

As a boy in a rural Ohio, Jeff learned how to entertain himself. He spent a good deal of time in the woods near his home with his dog and a BB gun. Growing up within the gravitational pull of Cleveland, he was an avid fan of the Indians and the Browns. His greatest influence on a day-to-day basis was his mother’s father, nicknamed “Nut.” He recalls Nut taking him to hunt for relics at nearby Gnadenhutten, where a Pennsylvania militia massacred 96 Christian Native Americans during the Revolutionary War.

At an early age, Jeff was intrigued by politics. He followed the Watergate story, the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention and trial of the Chicago Seven and says he can remember them as if they happened yesterday.

“I knew politicians usually start with the law. I knew early on that I never wanted to be a courtroom attorney. That had way too much bravado, way too much confrontation for me. My practice is all about building relationships and working effectively with clients. This is a place that understands that value of that. I work with a lot of good, straightforward people.”

He has lived in Mt. Adams since coming to Cincinnati in 1985. He and Amy have one daughter, Styrling, who is currently an Anthropology major (student) at Elon University in North Carolina.

Here’s a story to illustrate his dedication: In 2001, he bent to pick up a file in his office and his back gave out. He was flat on the floor, barely able to move. It was lunch hour, and no one was around. Instead of simply lying there waiting for help, he pulled the phone off his desk, checked his voice mail and returned a few business calls.

“I’m hardworking, focused, affable and comfortable with myself. I take a huge interest in my clients’ concerns, I’m as responsive as I humanly can be and I hope that in the end they walk away satisfied with the product.”