The prominent lawyer Charles Corman, who played an important behind-the-scenes role within the Jewish community, has died aged 87.

Clients who became lifelong friends included Lord Michael Heseltine, and publishers Lord Robert Gavron, Lord Paul Hamlin and Robin Hyman.

They valued not only his legal expertise but also his discretion and sound moral judgment — “his innate sense of right and wrong” — in the words of Lord Heseltine.

He also advised the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks while he was negotiating his employment contract with the United Synagogue. Charles insisted that Lord Sacks request a clause in his contract entitling him to the annual paid leave that would give him time to write his many books.

Proud of his Judaism — even, or perhaps especially, in the secular atmosphere of the City — for many years Charles hosted a lunchtime shiur at Titmuss Sainer, attended by successive generations of young, religiously observant lawyers.

Charles retained a lifelong commitment to legal education as trustee of the Leonard Sainer Scholarship Trust, which supported law students at both UCL and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He gave generously of his legal expertise to various Jewish organisations, including Hillel, Jewish Continuity, the Clore Foundation and the Israel Cancer Association.

Born in Stamford Hill in 1934 to Joe and Molly Corman, who manufactured ladies’ clothing, Charles spent the war years in Buxton, Derbyshire, sharing a large house that had been rented by his grandparents with various aunts, uncles and cousins.

The family returned to London in 1945, moving to Cricklewood, where Charles celebrated his barmitzvah. After school at St Paul’s, he studied law at UCL, graduating in 1955 before securing articles at the London law firm Titmuss, Sainer & Webb, where he was mentored by the senior partner, Sir Leonard Sainer.

A cautious man, Charles surprised many by applying for and winning a Fulbright Scholarship, which enabled him to pursue an LLM at Berkeley University in California. He later described his time there as one of the happiest of his life.

Upon returning to England, he rejoined Titmuss, Sainer & Webb, where he remained throughout his professional life. After close to 40 years there as a partner, he stayed on as a consultant until his death, his career there ultimately spanning eight decades.

In 1965, he married Swiss-born Myriame Eisenmann, niece of the diamond dealer Jack Lunzer, at whose London home the couple met. They had two children, Jonathan and Tanya, before divorcing in 1973.

Charles went on to marry Ruth Kohn, née Daniels, then director of the British Israel Arts Foundation, in 1986. He and Ruth moved to Belsize Park, joining South Hampstead Synagogue.

The community was beginning to undergo a renaissance, spurred by the arrival of Rabbi Shlomo and Lynndy Levin in 1984.

In later years Charles became a beloved elder statesman at South Hampstead, where he was known for his generosity, kindness and dry wit. His annual Purim spoof in the synagogue newsletter fooled many.

In the 1990s, when semi-retired, Charles returned to his alma mater, gaining first a BA and then an MA in Jewish history at UCL. He and Ruth spent several months a year in Israel, where they maintained a home in the Yemin Moshe neighbourhood of Jerusalem. He is survived by Ruth, his children Jonathan and Tanya, and sister Ruth Morris.


Charles Corman: born October 23, 1934. Died September 11, 2022