32 | MARCH 11 • 2021 

I

n the play Fiddler on the 
Roof, Tevye the milkman’s 
famous mantra was, 
“Tradition, Tradition!”
But in the world of newly 
“retired” lawyer Ira Jaffe, 
his focus is “Transition, 
Transition!”
“Some people look at 
retirement as a chance to do 
nothing other than sit in the 
sun, play golf, read a book or 
walk,” Jaffe said.
“For me, that would be like 
hell.
”
In his more than half-
century as a prominent 
business and real estate 
attorney, Jaffe advised many 
of the top local Jewish 
entrepreneurs as they 
established and grew their 
enterprises. In their later 
years, Jaffe counseled these 
same influential clients as they 
transitioned to retirement and 
beyond.
At his Southfield law firm, 
Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, Jaffe 
assisted a whole generation 
of Jewish philanthropists 
establish foundations to ensure 
their legacies and strengthen 
the future of the Jewish 
community.
On Dec. 31, at age 81, Jaffe 
retired from the now more 
than 100-lawyer firm he 
founded 52 years ago — and 
transitioned to the next stage 
of his life with a new venture.
Jaffe has set up a consulting 
firm, Ira Jaffe Consulting 
LLC, to advise established 
businesspeople on how to 

transition their businesses to 
the future, similar to work he 
did for so many at his law firm. 
He will have offices in both 
downtown Birmingham and 
his winter locale of Naples, Fla. 
Most of his clients are Detroit-
based, although many of them 
are Florida residents now.
Jaffe said as entrepreneurs 
build successful businesses, 
there comes a time to step back 
and eventually step away from 
running things to ensure the 
continuity of the company.
“If you love the place you’re 
leading, and you want it to 
go on after you’re gone, then 
plan for a transition,” he said. 
“If you don’t end up making 
a separation, then you really 
have not completed the 
transition.
“There are a lot a people 
who are clients of the Jaffe firm 
and others who have their own 
attorneys of longstanding,” he 
said. “People will want me to 
take a look at things — as a 
new set of eyes or to work out 
a plan.”
Jaffe said one area he 
will offer his expertise in 
is the transition of family 
foundations. Should they 
spend down? How do they get 
the next generation involved?
Often when considering 
the transition plan for 
entrepreneurs, family issues 
are a major concern, Jaffe said. 
A good business lawyer often 
has to be part psychologist and 
part social worker. 
“I try to talk to business 

owners about the potential 
curse of their success,
” Jaffe said.
“You have a private plane, 
a big house and a vacation 
home, but what does that do 
for your children? Your most 
serious possession are your 
children and grandchildren.”

LASTING LEGACIES
Jaffe had a long relationship 
with the late real estate 

developer Robert Sosnick and 
still serves as chairman of the 
board of REDICO, the firm 
Sosnick founded. 
 “I worked with Bobby 
when, on behalf of the 
Jewish community, he led the 
establishment of the Jewish 
Fund, created from the sale of 
Sinai Hospital to the DMC,” 
Jaffe said.
The establishment of family 
foundations can also leave 
a philanthropic legacy for 
entrepreneurs.
“I helped the late Norman 
Allan form the Norman and 
Esther Allan Foundation, and 
I’m still president of it,” Jaffe 
said. “Norman’s goal was to 
give money to Orthodox and 
senior Jewish causes. He also 
made a major gifts to Jewish 
day schools.
“
And a lot of the foundations 
that are meaningful in the 
Jewish community were 
fostered through our law firm’s 
late clients: D. Dan Kahn, 
Marvin Danto, Sam Frankel 
and Bill Farber.”
Most of Jaffe’s more recent 
work at his law firm was 
basically consulting. That’s 
what he’ll be doing with his 
new enterprise.
“
As long as I am able,” he 
said, he will continue. “One of 
my icons is Max Fisher, and 
he was pretty sharp into his 
mid-90s.” 
In addition to his work at 
his law firm, for nearly 12 
years Jaffe led The Fisher 
Group LLC, which handles 
financial affairs of the late 
Max Fisher and his family. 
Jaffe stepped down at the 
end of 2019 to transition 
to a younger successor, 
Mark Davidoff. “That’s 
doing the right thing for the 
organization,” Jaffe said. 
“To me, that’s the mark of 
success.” 

Attorney Ira Jaffe forms consulting firm to assist 
businesses in planning for the future.
Transition, Transition!

DAVID SACHS COPY EDITOR

BUSINESS

“IF YOU LOVE 
THE PLACE 
YOU’RE 
LEADING, AND 
YOU WANT IT TO 
GO ON AFTER 
YOU’RE GONE, 
THEN PLAN FOR 

A TRANSITION.”

— IRA JAFFE

here for it all.

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