All in a day’s work

By Jacquie Mazziotta | | No Comments »

Arriving at his attorney’s office in 1995, Canadian-born Jason Lorenzon was in the process of obtaining a student visa to attend the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). He had already earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance (cum laude) and a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the Western University of Ontario, when his past collided with his future and catapulted him to the other side of the desk.

“If you would have asked me two years ago would I be doing what I am today — I’d have probably said you were crazy,” Lorenzon says with a laugh.

Lorenzon is a senior attorney for Margaret Wong & Associates Co. LPA in Cleveland. He is also an FAA licensed pilot, adjunct music director and international award-winning organist, and not to mention a wine producer.

“I always wanted to be a performer, to be on stage,” he says. “If you have the bug as a musician, you have to do that first before you do anything else. I firmly believe that. If I would have been a lawyer first, I would have always wondered what it was like to be a musician.”

After earning a master’s degree from CIM, the pianist pursued his dream of becoming a professional musician. He joined Our Lady of Guadalupe, a church in Macedonia in 1997, and remained until 2000, when he moved to the cathedrals of Florida. The following year, he competed internationally, finishing second in the Galanti International Organ Competition in Mondiano, Italy. His enthusiasm for the piano actually stems from what he describes as his first love — the organ.

“I’ve played in churches since I was eight years old,” he says. “I met a teacher when I was 12 who told me I needed to have a piano background. So I got started in piano, earned a degree in piano performance and didn’t return to the organ until I met Todd Wilson, who is widely renowned, while pursuing my master’s degree at CIM.”

During that time, as a resident of Summit County, Lorenzon became familiar with and especially fond of the Hudson area. He says one of his dreams was to live here. With his sights set, he made that dream a reality when he relocated his family to Hudson and joined the Hudson Community Chorus as director in 1999.

“I love Hudson, especially the First and Main area,” he explains. “Hudson is the epitome of the small American town. There is a connection there with being Canadian. As I got to know people through the community, it became even more special to us.”

His experience in Florida proved invaluable to his future, although the couple decided to return to Ohio in 2003. They had no desire to live anywhere else and returned to Hudson. When the opportunity arose and he was asked to handle a litigation case by friend and employer, Margaret Wong, Lorenzon was eager to accept.

“I met Jason when he had gotten his master’s degree from CIM, and he needed me to help him with his visa as well as planning with his future,” explains Wong, founder and managing attorney of Margaret W. Wong & Associates Co. LPA. “We became friends. He produced a CD, and I supported his efforts — his music is beautiful.”

Wong suggested he pursue a legal career. “He loves the church, and I told him, ‘You need to go to law school to help more people.’ The church kept him on his job full time, he interned with us — he had three jobs.”

He may no longer have those same roles, although today he continues his work with Our Lady of Guadalupe, playing during mass once a week.

“Margaret was my immigration attorney,” Lorenzon explains. “She, along with my father, encouraged me to become a lawyer. She looked at my resume being so diversified with undergraduate degrees in music and political science, and I was working in the church. Margaret is also one to encourage people to develop to their full potential. She must have seen something in me,” he adds. “It certainly has been wonderful.”

Additionally, he says his father has always encouraged him to be his best.

“Jason is a very good writer, very passionate, and he’s an awesome advocacy guy. If he believes in something, he really goes and does it,” Wong says. “It’s so nice to see a young person flourish — it’s so good for America.”

Lorenzon graduated from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law and is a member of both the Ohio and Florida Bars. His area of practice has included family law, criminal defense, foreclosures and bankruptcy. He is currently assisting clients in family and employment-based immigration along with deportation litigation in Ohio and Florida.

“Largely because I’ve gotten through the whole system from student visa to citizenship and understanding what a client goes through when they go through the immigration process makes it a natural fit for me to practice in that area,” he explains. “I just think of all of the people I’m helping now, helping them get green cards, avoid foreclosure — this is why I went into law — to help people.”

While still under contract with Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2008, Lorenzon started his own legal practice offering his services Pro Bono. A variety of issues including immigration and foreclosures was a big area on which he focused. “I knew how bad it was when a nonprofit that does principal-only loans was starting to foreclose,” he explains.

“I was getting all of these bankruptcies,” he adds. He learned there are two types of clients when it comes to the prospect of a sheriff sale. “There are those who run from the house or those who do nothing. Helping people stay in their house or re-negotiate something, or helping mitigate on their credit and helping them get out of the situation they couldn’t afford,” is why Lorenzon enjoys this area of litigation. “A lot of people get into houses they can’t afford. It’s a systemic issue from society. You may be qualified for a certain amount, but the question is, can a person afford it.”

While, the 38-year-old father of three has been playing and performing on stage since childhood, the courtroom has become his stage.

“Performing has helped me become a lawyer. From a philosophical standpoint — the two are very similar. You have to be able to multi task including listening, hearing, analyzing — all of the senses are involved.”

He is a member of the Akron Bar Association, the Cleveland Bar Association and the American Bar Association, the Cleveland Catholic Lawyer’s Guild, serves as a panel attorney for the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association and assists clients in the Community Legal Aid Program in Akron. He has been instrumental in establishing the ‘You and the Law Presentations” in local Catholic parishes.

One might ask how one person could accomplish all of this in 38 short years? The well-rounded family man says that until April of this year, he didn’t have a weekend, and as a result says, “My wife loves it.”

There is no typical day for the multi-faceted attorney. On a Friday afternoon when many people are driving home for the weekend, he could possibly be found in Florida working on two separate immigration cases in Orlando and Miami. As a result of his interest in aviation, he has also been appointed to an aviation committee in the sunshine state.

“I remember flying to Detroit with my father,” he recalls. “When my friends were getting their drivers licenses, I was getting my flying license.”

Lorenzon met his wife, Heather, a development associate for University Hospital, while in college at the University of Western Ontario.

The couple met at a ballroom dancing session. During a visit to her dorm room, the curious pilot saw a picture of her standing before a Cessna 152.

“She asked me to take her to the winter ball at her residence and invited me to visit her roommates in her dorm room,” he recalls. “We have been flying together ever since.”

Although the couple no longer owns their own plane, Lorenzon practices aviation law which allows him to stay current. Not unlike most couples who experience adjustments that come with family growth, upon the arrival of their third child, circumstances warranted a change. The pair decided the plane was too much to handle, and it was time to bid it farewell.

“At that point there was a lot of paper work,” he explains. “After 9/11 we would be going to Canada a lot, and it only seated four people.”

Today, the entire Lorenzon family makes their own wine, approximately 150 to 200 bottles each year. “My kids are involved in it — this year we’re going to try stomping grapes. We’re actually going to get the press.”

In 2008, Community Legal Aid Services, a non-profit law firm serving low-income families and senior Ohioans, named Lorenzon Volunteer of the Year for Summit County for his work with foreclosures.

Next spring, he will receive the Ohio Bar Foundation Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 and Under at the Ohio State Bar District Meeting.

What’s next for the Hudsonite? “Professionally, I foresee being with the law firm for a very long time, helping them continue to grow and serve clients,” he says. “I’m in a national practice, and I see part of my time in Cleveland, Florida and New York.”

Personally, Lorenzon says he plans to remain in Hudson. “My kids go to school here, and they love the area.”

Tags: Margaret W. Wong & Associates Co. LPA, Our Lady of Guadalupe

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