Joe D. Jacobson
Joe Jacobson has been with Green Jacobson and its predecessor firms since 1991. In 1995, Joe and Martin Green, along with two other lawyers no longer associated with Green Jacobson, left their prior firm and founded the firm, then known as Green Schaaf & Margo.
Joe’s primary focus is on civil appeals and business disputes, but he also performs transactional work relating to business contracts and the purchase and sale of commercial real estate and privately-held businesses. Joe has tried to a verdict or judgment approximately 60 cases, and has settled many more. These cases have involved a whole range of business disputes, including partnership and fiduciary claims, contractual disputes, real estate developments disputes, and cases involving fraud, RICO, or other business misconduct. Joe represents both plaintiffs and defendants, and has represented such diverse clients as automobile dealers, real estate developers, Indian tribes, furniture retailers, gaming companies, energy companies, construction contractors, and individuals who have been defrauded, crashed, blown up and burned, sexually harassed, discriminated against, deprived of commissions, misdiagnosed, mistreated, and falsely charged with dishonest conduct.
He has briefed and argued approximately 80 appeals in the Missouri state and federal appellate courts.
Two of his more significant appellate victories are 66, Inc. v. Crestwood Commons Redevelopment Corp., 998 S.W.2d 32 (Mo. banc 1999), which reestablished an antique cause of action for landowners subjected to abandoned condemnations and strengthened the ability of plaintiffs to reach through underfunded entities to their owners for compensation, and In re BankAmerica Corp Securities Litigation, 263 F.3d 795 (8th Cir. 2001), which established a new exception to the federal Anti-Injunction Act in the context of securities class actions.
A representative sample of other appellate decisions in which Joe was the sole or lead appellate counsel include: Zoltek Corp. vs. United States vs. Lockheed Martin, Corp., Appeal No. 2009-5135 (Fed. Cir., March 14, 2012); Green Edge Enterprises, LLC v. Rubber Mulch Etc., LLC, 620 F.3d 1287 (Fed. Cir. 2010); Deal v. Consumer Programs, Inc., 470 F.3d 1225 (8th Cir. 2006); Dunne v. Libbra, 448 F.3d 1024 (8th Cir. 2006); O’Brien & Gere Technical Services v. Fru-Con/Fluor Daniel Joint Venture, 380 F.3d 447 (8th Cir. 2004); In re BankAmerica Corporation Securities Litigation, 350 F.3d 747 (8th Cir. 2004); Estate of Davis v. Delo, 115 F.3d 1388 (8th Cir. 1997); Thomure v. Phillips Furniture Co., 30 F.3d 1020 (8th Cir. 1995); Carpenter v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 250 S.W.3d 697 (Mo. banc 2008); Eisel v. Midwest Bankcentre, 230 S.W.3d 335 (Mo. banc 2007); Daoukas v. City of St. Louis, 228 S.W.3d 30 (Mo. App. E.D. 2007); Klokkenga v. Carolan, 200 S.W.3d 144 (Mo. App. W.D. 2006); Loomis v. Loomis, 158 S.W.3d 787 (Mo. App. E.D. 2005); National Heritage Life Ins. Co. v. Frame, 41 S.W.3d 544 (Mo. App. E.D. 2001); and Steward v. Goetz, 945 S.W.2d 520 (Mo. App. E.D. 1997).
Joe has served as General Counsel to the Housing Authority of St. Louis County since 1998. In this capacity, he handles the Authority’s litigation, provides legal counsel to the Board of Commissioners and the executive staff, and is involved in the preparation, negotiation or review of contracts, bond issues, real estate transactions, and employee benefit plans.
Joe was nominated for a seat on the Missouri Supreme Court by the state’s Appellate Judicial Commission in September 2011.
Joe is a 1986 magna cum laude graduate of the Boston University School of Law. He is a member of the Metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri, and American Bar Association. He has served as chairman of the Appellate Practice Committee of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, and is an active member of BAMSL’s fee dispute and bench and bar committees.
Prior to joining the predecessor firm of Green Hoffman & Dankenbring in 1991, Joe spent a year and a half with a large St. Louis-based law firm and three years in private practice in Washington, D.C., handling complex civil litigation and white collar criminal defense.
Joe is licensed to practice law in the States of Missouri and Illinois and the District of Columbia. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the Federal Circuit, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, the Southern and Central Districts of Illinois, and the District of Columbia.
When not practicing law, Joe enjoys photography, walking, bicycling, traveling in Latin America, and spending time with his two fairly grown children and his wife. He wishes he had more time for woodworking, chess, skiing, and his other passions, but is glad that law is so fulfilling.
Email Joe at Jacobson@stlouislaw.com