Gail J. Koff | Jacoby & Meyers lawyer, 65

Gail J. Koff, 65, who could be considered the silent partner in the national law firm Jacoby & Meyers, a sort of legal Wal-Mart for the middle class, died Tuesday in Manhattan of complications of leukemia.

Ms. Koff was not there in September 1972 when Stephen Z. Meyers and Leonard G. Jacoby opened their first storefront office in Van Nuys, Calif. But her aspirations matched those of the founders, and six years later she became the third partner, though unidentified in the firm's name, assigned to open the first New York office.

Recognizing the rich can afford lawyers and the poor have access to free assistance programs, Jacoby & Meyers focused on serving average people who could often not afford to hire a lawyer at prevailing rates. The firm set off something of a revolution in the field by using mass-marketing techniques and charging flat fees for services. It opened walk-in neighborhood "legal clinics" staffed by general practitioners who had access to teams of specialists in areas such as bankruptcy, personal injury, divorce, and criminal law.

"My main interest in the law has always been the availability of local services," Ms. Koff told the New York Times in 1979. By then, Jacoby and Meyers had started what is believed to be the first television advertising campaign conducted by a law firm. Competitors followed, and in 1994, as a result of management disagreements, the firm was divided into separate partnerships. Jacoby retained rights to operations in California, while Ms. Koff and Meyers retained rights in the rest of the country.

Ms. Koff wrote nine books offering legal guidance to laymen, including The Jacoby & Meyers Practical Guide to Everyday Law and the Jacoby & Meyers Guide to Divorce.

- N.Y. Times News Service