Jerilyn Jacobs

Biography

Jerilyn Jacobs represents employers in employment-related matters and litigation. Her practice focuses on defending both private and public entity clients from claims of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Ms. Jacobs has litigated cases under a variety of employment laws, including Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, and state law equivalents. She has handled claims of race, age, religion, gender, national origin, and disability discrimination, as well as sexual, racial, and religious harassment. She also advises clients with regard to employee handbooks and policy changes and has represented clients in wrongful termination and non-compete enforceability matters.

Ms. Jacobs’ practice involves significant federal litigation, and she has had numerous employment discrimination and harassment cases dismissed at either the pleading or summary judgment stage. She also has successfully defended those dismissals in the Seventh Circuit of Appeals. Ms. Jacobs’ appellate experience also includes authoring an appellate brief in E.M.M.I. Inc. v. Zurich American Ins. Co, 432 Cal.4th 465 (Cal. 2004), which resulted in a favorable California Supreme Court decision. Ms. Jacobs also represented a nationally-recognized company in a breach of employment agreement lawsuit in Wisconsin state court.

In 2010, acting as second-chair, Ms. Jacobs won a jury trial involving a former employee bringing her fifth lawsuit against her former employer. The plaintiff claimed that a prior settlement agreement between the parties had been breached, and she also asserted claims of retaliation, defamation, and emotional distress. After a three-day trial, the jury deliberated for approximately two hours before rendering a verdict that vindicated her client. The plaintiff again appealed to the Seventh Circuit, which subsequently affirmed the jury verdict in its entirety.

Ms. Jacobs also has extensive experience handling federal and state administrative matters in Wisconsin, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Pennsylvania, and has represented employers at administrative hearings and fact-finding conferences.

Ms. Jacobs is also the Editor and an author of the firm’s weekly employment e-newsletter, The 60 Second Memo, and she frequently writes for the Wisconsin Law Journal’s “Job Cites” column. In addition, she presents employment and training seminars for clients on and off-site, with such topics as handling administrative charges and unemployment.

Ms. Jacobs received her J.D. from Cornell Law School and a B.A. in Journalism and English, minor in Political Science, from the University of Southern California. While at USC, she was a staff writer for the Daily Trojan. She is admitted to practice in the States of Wisconsin and California, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, Central District of Illinois, Central and Eastern Districts of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Education & Bar Admissions

Education

• Cornell Law School, J.D.
• University of Southern California, B.A., Journalism and English, Minor in Political Science

Bar Admissions

• California
• Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Central and Eastern Districts of California

Publications