After spending a season as SU’s faceoff specialist, Mason Kohn enrolled at UCLA’s School of Law to pursue his next ventures. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer

By Zak Wolf Senior Staff Writer

Mason Kohn’s wardrobe doesn’t resemble a prototypical law-school nerd. Rather than sporting dress clothes or a suit, Kohn goes with an ultra-casual look. Every day, he walks to class at UCLA’s School of Law in a T-Shirt and shorts — typically representing his former teams, Syracuse or Tufts — while a pair of flip-flops completes his look.

Kohn’s outfits often draw puzzled looks and even snide remarks from his more formally dressed peers. It’s not something Kohn is overly concerned about, since his decision is rooted in simplicity.

“I’m going to be in a suit probably every day once I graduate for like 10 years, so I’m gonna take advantage of when I don’t have to wear dress shoes while I can,” Kohn said.

The basic wardrobe decisions lead to Kohn’s unassuming nature. It’s easy for those who know his background as a former Division I athlete to write him off as a simple-minded jock. Those judgments are muted once they realize Kohn finished top of his class during his first semester.

After spending last season as Syracuse’s faceoff specialist, Kohn embarked on a radical change of scenery by enrolling at UCLA. Grueling workouts became full-day study sessions, and rather than watching film, he now reads about cases that shape the United States’ judicial system. So far, Kohn’s excelling. He finished with strong grades in the fall and this summer, he’ll work for Norton Rose Fulbright, one of the world’s top law firms.

Practicing law is in Kohn’s blood. His mother, Susan Nahama, and father, Drew Kohn, both have over two decades of experience working as litigators, so enrolling in law school was always in the back of Kohn’s mind.

Growing up, he was extremely opinionated and never afraid to discuss current events, Nahama said. Whether it’s political discourse or business talk, Kohn’s typically the most informed one in the room.

“(It’s) always in a good and respectful way, but he has always been a guy who had his own ideas about how to do things and how he wanted to do things,” Drew said.

As an undergraduate at Tufts — where he initially played hockey — Kohn studied international relations, though he still was interested in attending law school. That garnered separate reactions from his parents. Nahama warned Kohn about the stresses of being a lawyer, while Drew thought it’d be a good career path, yet they both respected whatever Kohn chose.

During the summer before Kohn’s sophomore year, he took the Law School Admission Test. Kohn prepared during the COVID-19 pandemic, and after scoring well, he kept his options open.

“I don’t think there was ever really like a, ‘Hey, you should do this,’ or, ‘It would be a good idea if you did this,’” Kohn said. “It was more me organically coming to the conclusion that I want to go to law school.”

During Kohn’s senior year, he applied to the top schools around the country, getting accepted to Georgetown, the University of Chicago and UCLA. Kohn picked UCLA in March 2023, due to receiving a substantial scholarship and being a Southern California native.

However, Kohn’s situation took a turn the next month. A year earlier, he’d switched from hockey to lacrosse, in which he was a high school All-American. Kohn quickly became one of the top faceoff specialists in Division III. In late April, Syracuse head coach Gary Gait offered him a scholarship, which he accepted.

After contacting UCLA, it deferred his admission by a year, allowing him to join SU. Kohn revamped the Orange’s faceoff unit, winning 58% of his attempts. He heavily considered returning for a sixth season but the prospect of reapplying for law school deterred him, and John Mullen emerged as a viable replacement at the X.

Before Kohn started law school, Nahama tempered his expectations. She warned Kohn he could be humbled — not for a lack of belief, as he’d always earned straight As — but she admitted her first semester in law school was a “wake-up call.”

She also recalled everything Kohn’s accomplished. As a teenager, he moved across the country to play junior hockey in Boston and Corpus Christi, Texas, chasing a pro career before committing to Tufts. Then came his smooth transition to lacrosse at Tufts and later Syracuse.

Everything Kohn tried, he was successful at. Nahama thought Kohn would finally hit a roadblock.

She should’ve known better than to doubt Kohn.

“I was like, ‘F*ck, no way,’” Nahama said of Kohn’s success. “We look silly, because my sob story to him was that it was going to be humbling, and he’s gonna get his first bad grade, and everything didn’t happen.”

The process wasn’t easy for Kohn. When he arrived on campus in August, he started a non-credit introductory course on law school fundamentals. From there, he tackled contract law, torts and civil procedure classes.

Despite the workload, Kohn enjoyed it. Reading about different cases and interpretations of the law fascinated him.

“It really is a subjective thing a lot of the time, and that, to me, is fun,” Kohn said. “It’s the most enjoyable school I’ve had.”

Kohn’s main challenge was he had no idea if he was actually doing well. In law school, final exams determine everything, and grades are curved against classmates, adding even more pressure.

He compared it to his first semester at Syracuse, when he rehabbed from offseason wrist surgery. Kohn was unsure if his injury was healing properly and dealt with the mental strain of the unknown. The same applied to law school. Hours of studying each week all led to a single four-hour exam. To Kohn, it felt like waiting five months for a game.

“It was the most prolonged period of time where I was completely invested in something without having any idea if I was any good at it,” Kohn said.

It was a stark difference from taking faceoffs, where Kohn received instant results. If he lost a rep, within minutes, Kohn could redeem himself. Mess up on a law school test, and months of hard work get thrown out the window.

He has always been a guy who had his own ideas about how to do things and how he wanted to do things.

Drew Kohn, Mason Kohn’s father

Though Kohn knew he could retain information, he still felt nervous about finishing within the time limit. He remembers his professor saying before his first exam that students should type a 20-page response in four hours. Kohn, admitting he wasn’t a fast typer, worried he wouldn’t make the cut.

Kohn’s response ended up being 20 pages. Walking out of the classroom, he felt like he’d just played a full game, and all he could do was wait for the results.

It turned out, just like with faceoffs, Kohn excelled in law school. His strong grades earned him a summer job at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Los Angeles office. The 10-week stint will help Kohn decide which area of law to pursue. He’s not set on anything, but he’s mainly interested in litigation and corporate transaction work.

Drew and Nahama both feel Kohn is best suited for a law career due to his competitiveness and ability to get his point across in debates.

“He terrifies me,” Nahama said of potentially litigating against Kohn. “He’s going to put in whatever it takes to make sure that he’s better prepared and a better advocate for his clients, despite the sheer will of the hours that he’s willing to put in.”

Kohn still has a long way to go before he’s a practicing lawyer. Currently, in his second semester, Kohn explained he has two types of days. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he starts with a 7:30 a.m. workout, then finishes his assigned readings before his first of three two-hour lectures starts at 11.

First is property law, then criminal, before Kohn finishes with constitutional law. On Mondays and Wednesdays, Kohn has one class — legal research and writing — from 9-10:30 a.m. Kohn spends the rest of his day doing research, writing papers and reading. He’ll face anywhere from 16 to 32 hours of required reading per week.

Still, Kohn found time to return to the lacrosse field with UCLA’s club team. While at Syracuse, he received a text from Hayden Lechner, UCLA’s club captain, who played with Nate LeVine, a short-stick midfielder for SU. He also received similar texts from the club hockey coach, but declined both opportunities to focus on his studies.

Once Kohn settled in this spring, he reached back out to Lechner, eager to play. He only had one condition: he wanted to play attack. Lechner obliged, and Kohn had a blast, flying under the radar without any Syracuse gear. He scored seven goals in his debut, but his fun was short-lived, as he broke his hand a couple games later.

Kohn’s hunger to play never faded. National Lacrosse League teams have contacted him about playing next year once his final year of college eligibility expires, which he said isn’t out of the picture. In the fall, he often wondered what it’d look like if he stayed at Syracuse. That fire still burns whenever he watches SU or Tufts play.

“I don’t think there’ll ever be a time where it’s not weird (and that) I don’t wish I was out there in some way,” Kohn said.

For now, Kohn can only reminisce as he chisels his way through law school. He might not have the same prestigious academic achievements from undergraduate school as his classmates. Though one thing Kohn’s displayed in his life is that he should never be underestimated.