Edward J. Jacobs

He | Him | His

Partner

New York
T +1.212.589.4674
F +1.212.589.4201

Overview

With over 20 years of experience litigating high-profile, complex civil litigations, Ted Jacobs focuses on executing long-term discovery negotiation and planning strategies. As the leader of BakerHostetler’s E-Discovery Advocacy and Management (EDAM) team, Ted leads a full-service group of attorneys and professionals and manages all aspects of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) framework, including preservation, collection, review and presentation of electronic evidence in a manner that is defensible, efficient and designed to maximize the chances of successful resolution of disputes.

Ted argues complex discovery and substantive legal issues in court or in arbitrations on a regular basis. He is able to discern how critical discovery-related strategy can affect the long term in litigation, trial or settlement discussions, bringing a practical focus that recognizes the need for advocacy when addressing the burdens, costs and opportunities of discovery while maintaining credibility and defensibility with the Court. Ted oversees EDAM’s national role, providing e-discovery expertise to BakerHostetler’s Chambers-ranked Privacy and Data Protection team.

As the national lead of BakerHostetler’s LGBTQ Affinity Group and member of the firmwide Diversity Council, Ted is  dedicated to promoting inclusion and diversity in the legal profession. He is also the pro bono coordinator for the New York office and supports numerous cases seeking equal rights under law for both marginalized members of the community and those who cannot otherwise afford legal counsel.

Select Experience

  • E-Discovery counsel to a Fortune 15 healthcare company assisting with the re-structuring and drafting substantive standard of practice policies covering all aspects their in-house e-Discovery policies, including staffing, use of technology, and re-negotiation of preferred vendor relationships.
  • Discovery advocate on behalf of a leading healthcare insurance provider in connection with a class action litigation involving a cyberattack with more than one million customers notified.
  • Discovery lead for the BakerHostetler legal team serving as court-appointed counsel to Irving H. Picard, the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS), responsible for the overall strategic and day-to-day execution of discovery across the hundreds of proceedings brought by the SIPA Trustee to recover billions of dollars of stolen funds.
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Experience

  • E-Discovery counsel to a Fortune 15 healthcare company assisting with the re-structuring and drafting substantive standard of practice policies covering all aspects their in-house e-Discovery policies, including staffing, use of technology, and re-negotiation of preferred vendor relationships.
  • Discovery advocate on behalf of a leading healthcare insurance provider in connection with a class action litigation involving a cyberattack with more than one million customers notified.
  • Discovery lead for the BakerHostetler legal team serving as court-appointed counsel to Irving H. Picard, the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS), responsible for the overall strategic and day-to-day execution of discovery across the hundreds of proceedings brought by the SIPA Trustee to recover billions of dollars of stolen funds.
  • Lead attorney on several BLMIS adversary proceedings involving feeder funds and financial institutions, including Picard v. Merkin, et al., Adv. Proc. No. 09-01182 (SMB), and Picard v. Katz, et al., 11-CV-03605 (JSR).
  • Trial counsel for a major food packaging producer in connection with a multidistrict commercial contract dispute with a supplier.
  • Discovery manager for a major aluminum can sheet producer in several long-term supply contract disputes with leading beverage makers.
  • Advisor to a major tax consulting firm in connection with the handling of third-party subpoenas and governmental requests.
  • Discovery manager for a leading Wall Street law firm in connection with claims brought by investors in In re Enron Securities Litigation.
  • Trial team member in a class action defense of an underwriting syndicate in In re Global Crossing Securities Litigation.
  • Discovery manager for a major Wall Street bank in connection with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Research Analyst Conflicts of Interest investigation.
  • Advisor to an international oil and gas valve producer with regard to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance and activities of overseas offices.

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • Nominated "LGBT+ Equality Lawyer of the Year" by Chambers and Partners  (2019)
  • New York Metro "Super Lawyer" (2013 to 2018)

Memberships

  • Out Leadership: Leadership Committee
  • National LGBT Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • New York City Bar Association
  • Sedona Conference Working Group 1: Member
  • New York E-Discovery Roundtable

News

News

Community

  • Urban Word NYC: Board Member
  • Lawyers for Good Government: Board Member

Pro Bono

  • Serves as preferred pro bono counsel to the Human Rights Campaign and led a team that successfully enjoined the Department of Health and Human Services from promulgating a rule that permitted discrimination against trans and gender non-conforming individuals under the Affordable Care Act.
  • Serves as co-counsel in a case against the City of Rochester and the Rochester Police Department for police brutality during the 2020 peaceful Black Lives Matter protests.
  • Filed amicus briefs in the Supreme Court of the United States in G. G. v. Gloucester County School Board on behalf of many of America's leading corporations in furtherance of their commitment to diverse and inclusive workplaces in support of trans students' rights to use school bathrooms reflecting their gender identity.
  • Successfully represented a transgender woman who was wrongly incarcerated in a men's prison facility in New York State leading to a financial settlement and changes to policy that serve as a model for prison reform across the country.
  • Has successfully represented individuals from Guatemala, Cuba, Jamaica and Venezuela fleeing persecution in their home countries based on sexual orientation and HIV status in both administrative proceedings and in U.S. Immigration Court.
  • In 2010, participated on a team representing the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law by filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of employees’ anti-discrimination rights in Straub v. Proctor Hospital, where the plaintiff alleged he was improperly discharged from his job due to his National Guard service in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
  • Organized a diverse coalition of religious communities and clergy throughout New York state from 2005 to 2006 in order to submit an amicus brief to the New York Court of Appeals in support of marriage equality in that state.

Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
  • New York

Education

  • J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2002
  • M.T.S., Harvard University, 1998
  • B.A., Colgate University, 1996, magna cum laude

Blog

In The Blogs

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Discovery Advocate
SEC and CFTC Continue Crackdown on Financial Firms Over Off-Channel Communications
By John J. Carney, David Choi, Edward J. Jacobs, Alexandra Karambelas, Lauren P. Lyster, Michelle N. Tanney
May 23, 2023
Key Takeaways Background The SEC and CFTC settlements with HSBC and Scotia Capital come after years of federal regulators’ and prosecutors’ steadily increasing scrutiny of off-channel communications. Anchoring these settlements are...
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Discovery Advocate
Google Sanctioned for Failure to Preserve Internal Chat Messages
By David Choi, Edward J. Jacobs
March 31, 2023
In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litig., 21 MD 2981 (JD) (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 28, 2023) Practical Insight This decision illustrates three trends in e-discovery: (1) employees are increasingly using chat platforms and other means of instant...
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Discovery Advocate
Client and Counsel Sanctioned More Than $2.5 million for ‘Amateur Hour' Discovery Ineptitude
By David Choi, Edward J. Jacobs
March 14, 2023
Practical Insight This case is a cautionary tale for the attorney who may know to say all of the right things when it comes to modern discovery practice but, in fact, lacks the expertise and competence to oversee a defensible discovery...
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Discovery Advocate
DOJ Corporate Criminal Enforcement Updates Shine a Spotlight on Texts and Instant Messaging Applications as Potential Evidence
By Csilla Boga-Lofaro, David Choi, Edward J. Jacobs
March 6, 2023
In September 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo announcing revisions to the DOJ’s corporate criminal enforcement policies and practices. The memo made clear that the DOJ expects “all corporations with robust...
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Discovery Advocate
The Supreme Court Dodges—for Now—the Circuit Split on the ‘Dual Purpose' Test for Privilege
By Csilla Boga-Lofaro, David Choi, Edward J. Jacobs, Jennifer C. Negron
February 21, 2023
In re Grand Jury, 23 F.4th 1088 (9th Cir. 2022), appeal dismissed as improvidently granted, In re Grand Jury, 598 U.S. ____ (2023) (No. 21-1397). Summary of the Case: The Supreme Court, which had initially agreed to consider a circuit...
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