In Memoriam: Boris Kozolchyk

The trade finance world was saddened by the news of the loss of one of our own: Boris Kozolchyk. Below are tributes from our global community. Submit your own tribute via email here.

Christopher Byrnes

Boris Kozolchyk, longtime professor of law at the University of Arizona and founder of the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade (later renamed the Kozolchyk National Law Center in his honor), died on 17 September 2026 at age 91.

In a funeral service held at Congregation Anshei Israel in Tucson, Arizona, family and friends honored the life and legacy of Boris. He was recognized as a brilliant man who was among “the finest in the hemisphere” while crisscrossing the globe to help humanity and fondly remembered as someone who “would gift you with a smile” and “never made you feel small”.     

Among the personal stories and reflections shared during the service, Boris’ son, Raphael, informed that at one point in his father’s formative years, Boris crossed paths with Ernest Hemingway who suggested that he could probably be a good writer if he skipped law school.

Boris eschewed this advice, excelled in his studies, and became a prolific legal writer and more.

One of the world’s preeminent comparative commercial law scholars, Boris was a stalwart for the use of good faith commercial practices in the drafting of laws essential for economic development which earned him nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. Through the National Law Center he founded, Boris worked for the modernization and harmonization of commercial law in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, contributing to grassroots economic progress and inclusion, SME prosperity, and the fulfillment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals through better business laws and practices.

In his extensive work in the field of letters of credit, Boris served as the US member of the drafting commission of UCP500, participated in the American Bar Association Task Force for the revision of US UCC Article 5, contributed mightily in the drafting of the UN Convention on Independent Guarantees and Standby Letters of Credit, and played an integral role in formulation of ISP98. In these efforts and many other LC-related initiatives, Boris collaborated closely with James Byrne and James Barnes.

“I believe we succeeded in replacing the rigidities of strict compliance with new principles and practices that invigorated the use of commercial [letters of credit] and made life easier for standby [letters of credit].” – Boris Kozolchyk, reflecting on the drafting of UCP500

For more about Boris’ significant contributions to the advancement of letter of credit law & practice, see our Editorial Board Snapshot: Boris Kozolchyk from one of the first monthly editions of Documentary Credit World published in January 1998.

Boris Kozolchyk’s obituary, written by his family, can be found here.

— Christopher Byrnes, Executive Editor, DCW

Janis Penton

I was very saddened to learn of Boris Kozolchyk’s passing. I truly believe that Boris was partly responsible for my career path. In the early 1980s, my law firm’s largest bank client wanted to use something called a standby letter of credit to support municipal bonds by securitizing the bank’s municipal lease inventory. The SEC [US Securities and Exchange Commission] had rejected a no-action request another law firm had filed for the bank, so they turned to us as a last resort. As the youngest associate I was tasked to determine the letter of credit structure. None of our lawyers was familiar with this instrument but we found someone who knew the area and he referred me to a professor at the University of Arizona, Boris.

This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Boris led me through days and weeks of researching, working through issues, and drafting until we had figured out the puzzle. What an amazing opportunity. I also spent time with Boris’s family in Tucson; I’ll always be grateful for Billie’s hospitality and the heimishe[[1]] atmosphere surrounding them.

Eventually I graduated from the Kozolchyk letter of credit institute and confidently created a practice area where I pioneered the use of standby letters of credit in public finance. My friendship with Boris continued as we were both involved in committees, taskforces, including programs and presentations. Sadly, for me, we had less contact after I moved in-house and no longer worked on letters of credit and while I was part of the group that developed ISP, I had to drop out during my pregnancy.

I’ve thought about Boris fondly through the years, always grateful for his presence in my life and his help starting my professional life. He was a giant in the field and truly a mensch.[[2]]

— Janis Penton, USC Gould School of Law, Los Angeles, California

Chang Soon Thomas Song

Prof. Boris Kozolchyk, or Boris as he would have you call him, was my beloved teacher and mentor. He was also much like a father to me and I honor him next to my own father.

He was an expert in both common law and civil law. One of few people who was good in both systems of law. He chose letters of credit as his study of international commercial law and I first came to know him in late 1990s as an expert in this field before going to law school in Arizona.

Although he was a lawyer, his grasp of letter of credit practice surpassed that of most bankers. Many expert bankers had discussed letter of credit practice with him and his knowledge of both common law and civil law applied to letter of credit practice made him respected by both bankers and lawyers.

I had a chance to study under him at the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law in 2003-2006 and to work for him in the summers in the National Law Center during my three years of law school.

At the time, he was writing his Comparative Commercial Contracts and he would discuss sections of the book on his thought on the contents. Through those discussions, I felt that he had a love for people which he tried to apply to his work in the law.

When you read his books, understanding the practical and legal aspects of the law coupled with an understanding of what Boris was trying to do in his work would make you better understand his work which lies beneath the surface of the book.

Understanding both common law and civil law in the international field of law and practice and a sense of what Boris had tried to do in his life will allow the person in whatever field of international transaction law and practice an edge in his field of endeavor.

His love for people everywhere will be with us even as his physical presence is no longer with us. His abiding influence on all his students and all who have worked with him or read his books will remain to make this world today a better place than yesterday.

— Chang Soon Thomas Song, Esq. Senior Advisor at Law in the Trade Services Department of KEB Hana Bank, Seoul, Korea

[[1]]: Heimishe is a Yiddish word meaning “home-ish”- but it’s also much more; it means homey, cozy, familiar, casual

[[2]]: Mensch is a Yiddish word that translates as “person” or “human being,” but figuratively means someone who is innately decent, kind, and compassionate with high integrity, honor, and deep moral character, which is a pretty good description of Boris