MATTHEW L. JACOBS, Partner Publications · Professional Activities Washington, DC Office Office: (202) 639-6096 Fax: (202) 661-4928 Email: mjacobs@jenner.com  Add to Outlook Contacts

Matthew L. Jacobs is a partner in Jenner & Block’s Washington, DC office.  He is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Department and its Insurance Litigation and Counseling, Reinsurance, Antitrust Litigation and International Arbitration Practices.  Mr. Jacobs is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale Hubbell’s highest recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.

Mr. Jacobs is responsible for complex, multi-party insurance coverage litigation matters in state and federal courts, and he regularly advises corporations on the availability of insurance coverage for a wide variety of claims, including those related to directors and officers liability, errors and omissions, mortgage lending practices, mold and water damage, business interruption losses, product liability, mutual fund late-trading and market timing lawsuits, regulatory investigations and environmental matters and claims arising from the installation of Chinese drywall.  

Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Mr. Jacobs spent 18 years at K&L Gates, where he led the Insurance Practice Group in the Washington, DC office.  He also served as law clerk to John W. Kern, III of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (1981-1982) and worked for five and one-half years as an associate at Covington & Burling.

Mr. Jacobs has been recognized by his clients and peers through the following publications:

• Chambers USA Client’s Guide for Insurance (District of Columbia) (Chambers & Partners Legal Publishers) (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010)
  
  
• Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers (Legal Media Group) (2006, 2007, 2009)
  

He contributed to the work of the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Environmental Insurance Coverage Litigation.  He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Environmental Claims Journal and the Insurance Editorial Advisory Board of Law360. Mr. Jacobs has been quoted extensively on developments in insurance law in Business Week, Business Insurance, Mealey’s Litigation Reports and National Underwriter, and he also discussed the availability of insurance coverage for various matters on WGMS 103.5, as part of The Legal Perspective.  He has appeared on CNN’s “Moneyline” to discuss the availability of insurance coverage for tobacco-related liabilities.  Mr. Jacobs was also listed in Best Lawyers in America for insurance law and in the 2009 and 2010 editions of Washington DC Super Lawyers for Insurance Coverage Litigation.  In 2010, Lexology Legal Writing Awards named Mr. Jacobs the “2010 Author of the Year -- Insurance USA."

Mr. Jacobs graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1981.  He received his B.A. from Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School) in 1977.  Mr. Jacobs is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.

Mr. Jacobs has published and lectured widely on insurance coverage topics, and specifically on the availability of coverage for directors and officers, environmental, professional, breast implant, e-commerce, Year 2000, tobacco and Electro-Magnetic Field claims.  He is the author or co-author of over 50 papers and articles on insurance coverage topics, including, "Insurance Coverage," New York Law Journal, September 15, 2008, "Insurance Coverage and the Subprime Crisis: A Broad Overview," Coverage, Newsletter of the American Bar Association Committee on Insurance Coverage Litigation (Vol. 18, No. 4), July/August 2008; "Not Too Hot to Handle: Global-Warming Claims Deserve Coverage, Despite Those Pollution Exclusions," Legal Times, (Vol. 30, No. 9), March 2008; “Current Trends in D&O Insurance Rescission Cases and Coverage for Various Forms of Relief,” Coverage (Vol. 16, No. 4), July/August 2006; “Insurance Coverage for Governmental Investigations of Financial Institutions,” The Banking Law Journal, (Vol. 123, No. 3), March 2006; “The Duty to Defend: What is it Worth?”  15 Envt’l Claims Journal 1 (Winter 2003); “Mental Injury Accompanied by Economic Loss: CGL Insurance Coverage for Emotional Distress Claims in the Context of Financial Transactions,” 2 Journal of Insurance Coverage 28 (1999); “Smoke on the Horizon,” 20 Legal Times No. 33, at S36 (Jan. 12, 1998); and “Emerging Areas of Insurance Coverage Litigation,” 4 Int’l Ins. L. Rev. 245 (1996).  Mr. Jacobs has spoken at over 100 insurance coverage conferences sponsored by the ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Mealey’s Publications, Practising Law Institute, Fulcrum Information Services, Inc., Business Development Associates and the Greater Washington Board of Trade.  He also has appeared on the faculty of the ALI-ABA Environmental Litigation Course of Study (1998) as well as the ALI-ABA Environmental and Toxic Tort Conference (1999). 

In addition, he has most recently co-chaired or presented at the following:

• American Conference Institute: 15th Annual Advanced Forum on D&O Liability. “A Focus on Settlement Negotiations in the D&O Context: Attaining a Favorable Settlement Number for Your Client,” New York, NY, November 30, 2009, Speaker
  
  
• HB Litigation Conferences: Chinese Drywall Litigation & Insurance Coverage Update, "Claims Processing-Special Considerations for the Various Parties,"  New Orleans, LA, November 11, 2009, Speaker
  
  
• C5 Global Conferences: D&O Litigation Insurance, “How Will current US Litigation Trends Impact UK Directors and Officers?” London, England, June 16, 2009, Speaker
  
  
• HB Litigation Teleconferences: Chinese Drywall Insurance Coverage Nightmare, June 1, 2009, Speaker
  
  
• Practising Law Institute: Understanding Insurance Law, “Directors & Officers Liability and Errors & Omissions Coverage.” New York, NY, April 6, 2009, Speaker
  
  
• Insurance Law & Litigation Reporter, Insurance and the Economic Crisis, January 8, 2009, Panelist
  
  
• Lexis-Nexis Mealey's, Subprime Mortgage Litigation & Insurance Coverage Conference, June 19-20, 2008, Co-Chair
  
  
• Practising Law Institute, Insurance Coverage 2008: Claim Trends & Litigation, May 19-20, 2008, Speaker
  
  
• The District of Columbia Bar, Subprime Summit, April 28, 2008, Moderator
  
  
• Practising Law Institute, Understanding Insurance Law, April 14, 2008, Speaker
  
  
• LexisNexis,Insurance Coverage for Subprime Lending Losses and Liabilities Webinar, April 3, 2008, Speaker
  
  
• American Bar Association,Twentieth Annual Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar, February 27 - March 1, 2008, Speaker
  
  
• Jenner & Block & Aon Risk Services Seminar, February 26, 2008, Panelist
  
  
• PLUS D&O Symposium, Hot Topics in D&O Claims: Does a 'Soft Market' Mean 'Hard Coverage Positions'?, February 6 & 7, 2008, Panelist
  
  
• 5th Annual Advanced Insurance Coverage Conference:  Top 10 Issues, Mealey’s, January 22-23, 2007, Speaker
  
  
• Litigation Management Guidelines Conference, Mealey’s, July 2006, Co-Chair
  
  
• Insurance Law 2006 – Understanding the ABC’s, Practising Law Institute, April 3-4, 2006, Speaker
  
  
• Insurance Coverage for Financial Institutions Exposures, Mealey’s, March 1, 2005, Co-Chair
  
  
• D&O Insurance Conference, Mealey’s, May 25, 2004, Speaker
  
  
• Fundamentals of Insurance Coverage Law, Mealey’s, March 20-21, 2003, Co-Chair
  
  
• Employment Practices Liabilities:  Claims and Coverage, Mealey's, January 13-14, 2003, Co-Chair
  
  
• Employment Practice Liability Insurance Conference, Mealey's, June 24, 2002, Co-Chair

Representative Articles:

• Co-Author, “Do You Have the Right D&O Coverage” Insurance Law360, February 17, 2010