The Kocher & Barney team includes, from left, James Barney, Sara Gottron, Gabriela Toscano, Jessica Hoover, Samantha Nash and John Kocher. (Submitted photo)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – When clients gather around the long wooden table inside the conference room at Kocher & Barney law firm, they are sitting at a place of history. The conference table was likely purchased by George A. True, the attorney who founded the practice around 1895, and it is still used today by attorneys John Kocher, James Barney, Gabriela Toscano and Samantha Nash.

At some point, True moved into the downtown building that still houses the law firm, so for over 100 years, the table has been a steady witness to countless meetings.

The firm’s earliest male clients sat at the table wearing three-piece suits and starched dress shirts. Male clients of the 1930s donned woolen or fur fedoras, and a few clients may have sat at the table in their World War II uniforms in the 1940s. In the 1960s, clients sported wide polyester ties, and trendy 1980s clients wore elbow-patched jackets.

The tabletop hid the variously-clad legs of female clients for over a century. Some of those legs were concealed under layers of petticoats in the late 19th century. Rebellious female clients of the 1920s dared to wear pants into the law firm. The table covered the bare legs poking out of miniskirts on 1960s clients, and it cast shadows on the flowered bellbottoms of hippies looking for legal advice in the 1970s.

“The table has inconceivable history,” Barney said. “It would be impossible to figure out how many client conferences were held here.”

Today, clients gather around the table with Kocher, who started practicing law in 1975, and with Barney (1994), Toscano (2022), and Nash (2023). Kocher & Barney is one of the oldest continually operating law firms in Ottawa County. It was founded by True and through the years held the names True & Crawford; True & Meyer; Meyer & Kocher; Meyer, Kocher, Loeffler & Wargo; Kocher & Gillum; and now Kocher & Barney.

The table is just part of the historical story at Kocher & Barney. The conference room is filled with antique bookshelves lined with vintage law books, and to sit in the room is to breathe the history of the city.

“When I first walked into the conference room, it reminded me of an old New York law office,” Nash said.

Kocher & Barney is located at 101 ½ Madison St. in downtown Port Clinton. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

The firm’s historical foundation began with George A. True, whose impact on the city remains today. When he founded his practice, Ottawa County had been working to drain the Great Black Swamp for years, which created property disputes, many of which likely landed in True’s office. Today, much of the work at Kocher & Barney also revolves around real estate.

True was practicing law when the Ottawa County Courthouse was established in 1901, making him one of the first attorneys to defend clients within its walls. He served as Ottawa County prosecutor, and he lived in the True Mansion which still stands on the corner of Fulton and Perry streets. His family owned vast farmland in the area, and he donated to the city the land for Lakeview Park, which is enjoyed by thousands of people annually.

Kocher & Barney is located in a stately, second-floor office in downtown Port Clinton. The building was likely built by the Masons, who held sacred ceremonies, hosted dinners, and had lighthearted evenings of entertainment in the billiards room, all on the third floor. Kocher and Meyer purchased the building, but the Masons remained there until about the early 2000s. Remnants of the Masons’ presence remain on the third floor, including the sacred altar, now an unassuming-looking, carpeted rise in the floor.

“This building is part of our firm,” Barney said. “This is an old building with its own warts, but when our clients walk in here, often, their jaws hit the ground. This office is an essential part of who we are. Our clients connect with our building and with us.”

Connection is just as much a part of the history of the firm as the building. Kocher, who began practicing law in 1975 and specializes in real estate cases, saw many changes through the years. Computers streamlined title research and communication, but not all of that change was good.

“I miss the personal contact,” Kocher said. “Rather than communicate electronically, we shook hands.”

Kocher refused to let technology erase the firm’s legacy of personal connection.

“John values personal contact. It’s an important part of who we are,” Barney said. “That started with John. It probably started before John.”

Toscano said the philosophy of personal contact was taught from the first day she joined the firm.

“John would often tell me to go to the courthouse rather than send an email,” she said.

Connection is just as important inside the office, where collaboration is a part of everyday business. Toscano said the team “collaborates on everything.”

“That’s how we get a better product,” Kocher said.

The mission to serve clients well began with True and continues with Kocher & Barney. The firm is maintaining the history of True’s law practice in Ottawa County. More importantly, it is carrying on a legacy of connection and integrity that began well over a century ago.

For more information, visit www.kocherbarney.com.