Jeffrey Jacobson

Jeff Jacobson has long held a passion for helping others. It was thus natural for him to utilize his expertise as an attorney to co-create and launch the Wills for Heroes Foundation. The Wills for Heroes program began in response to the September 2001 terrorist attacks as a way to give back to the first responder community. Since then, Wills for Heroes programs in 28 states have provided more than 65,000 estate planning documents for first responders. Jeff has received a number of honors for his leadership of Arizona’s Wills for Heroes program and in 2011, Jeff received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award (Gold Level) from President Obama’s Council on Service and Civic Participation for his efforts on behalf of America’s first responders. For his leadership of Arizona’s Wills for Heroes program, the State Bar of Arizona voted Jeff its 2006 Member of the Year. In addition to his role as Chairman of Wills for Heroes Foundation Board of Directors, Jeff runs his own practice in Tucson, Arizona, an employment law firm with an emphasis on representation of law enforcement officers. Jeff cut his legal teeth as a Deputy County Attorney and Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in Tucson before going ‘solo’ in 2008. As an AUSA, Jeff was honored as Prosecutor of the Year by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Southern Arizona Chapter and also received the Outstanding Prosecutor award from the United States Border Patrol, Tucson Sector. As outside counsel to the members of Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association since 2008, Jeff is one of four attorneys representing 26,000 law enforcement officers in over 65 federal law enforcement agencies. Working with law enforcement officers around the United States, Jeff has defended thousands of disciplinary matters, over 100 officer-involved shootings, and handled other employment matters where career, livelihood, and reputation are all at stake. Jeff has tried more than 50 jury trials and more than 300 bench trials in his career. He has also briefed and argued appeals before the Ninth, Tenth and Federal Circuits of the United States Courts of Appeals and in Arizona state courts. Jeff has also appeared numerous times on television as a legal analyst on HLN (Headline News), the Nancy Grace show and InSession on TruTV (the successor to Court TV), and KOLD-TV (the CBS affiliate in Tucson, Arizona.) Jeff received his Bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University in 1992, his Master of Public Administration degree from Arizona State University in 1994, and his law degree cum laude from Whittier Law School in 1998. While at Whittier Law School, Jeff received a number of academic awards and was a published member of law review. Jeff was also Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Law Student Division, representing 135,000 law students to the national legal community. Jeff was honored in 2014 as Whittier Law School’s Alumni Attorney of the Year. Jeff is also committed to the legal profession through his bar service. He is a past-President of the State Bar of Arizona Young Lawyers Division and served on the State Bar of Arizona Board of Governors. In addition to serving on several community boards and foundations, Jeff was appointed in 2010 by President Obama to serve as a Local Board Member of the United States Selective Service System. With his wife Rachel, they have their hands full raising two amazing children and their chocolate Labradoodle, Hershey.