The knee lift lever was a selling point when I bought my first machine about 13 years ago. I also have a Janome Jem Platinum that doesn’t have one. The replacement to Jem came out recently and I was surprised that it didn’t have a knee lift lever.
If you don’t use yours, why not? They are so helpful – they allow you to keep your hands on your project while you lift the presser foot to move your project.