William W. Jacobs

Practices

• Business Litigation
• Antitrust, Competition & Distribution

Professional Experience

Bill is the Practice Group Leader of the firm's Business Litigation practice group. Bill has devoted over 25 years of practice to litigating complex business matters. His business litigation practice typically involves significant cases with multiple parties, multiple claims and often multiple proceedings in federal and state courts. Bill focuses his practice on business contract, business tort, fiduciary duty, trade secret, intellectual property, eminent domain, white collar crime, and antitrust investigations.

Bill served as a judicial law clerk to John V. Corrigan of the Eighth District Court of Appeals from 1976-1978. From 1978-1987 he held several positions with the Federal Trade Commission, including Staff Attorney, Assistant to the Executive Director and Assistant Director and then Director of the Cleveland Regional Office. He is admitted to practice in Ohio, the Northern District of Ohio, the United States Sixth Circuit, Third Circuit and Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

Education

• Case Western Reserve University School of Law, J.D., 1976
• Michigan State University, B.A., 1973, high honors

• Successful representation of Cleveland Cuyahoga County Port Authority in acquisition of 18 acre site for $230 million water-front mixed use development.
• Trial verdict and Third Circuit decision upholding indemnification for members of ASTM arising from antitrust claims.
• Multi-million dollar jury verdict on valuation of industrial land appropriated for intermodal terminal.
• Three week trial resulting in a verdict in favor of the City of Cleveland in the then-largest eminent domain challenge in Ohio, preserving airport property for future airport expansion.
• Successful representation of large Ohio bank in the trial of two cases concerning the bank’s purchase of residential mortgage loans from correspondents and brokers to require repurchase of loans and to recover damages arising out of misrepresentations and inaccuracies in the loan documentation and origination process.
• Jury verdict in favor of automobile franchisor defeating a challenge by a franchisee dealership for breach of contract and fraud.
• Successful representation of national, publicly held provider of commercial and residential landscaping and tree trimming services in a dispute with an international provider of enterprise software systems, for claims arising out of installation and implementation problems.
• Successful representation of inventor in patent infringement and trade secret dispute with international manufacturer of home health care products.
• Successful representation of the then-largest independent franchisee of hotels, in defense of fraudulent transfer, breach of contract and fraud claims brought by federal banking authorities.
• Representation of minority shareholder in breach of fiduciary duty and breach of shareholder agreement regarding employment termination and stock repurchase.
• Successful defense and settlement of adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court involving fraudulent transfer of business and family trust assets.
• Obtained injunctive relief to safeguard trade secrets, intellectual property, and to enforce non-compete and non-solicitation agreements for founding industry client.
• Successful representation of franchisees against one of the nations largest sellers of automotive parts for breach of franchise agreement.
• Successful representation and settlement of free-standing CT center against large northeast Ohio hospital to resolve breach of contract claims.
• Successful representation of radiology practice in breach of contract case involving the sale of the business.
• Obtained orders upholding the validity and enforceability of various patents and defended against monopolization and attempt to monopolize claims for a client in the packaging industry.
• Obtained dismissal of claims in representation of securities dealer against allegations of improper day trading.
• Successfully defending manufacturer of CT equipment against monopolization and attempt to monopolize claims.
• Obtained judgment for City of Akron to defeat claims of monopolization of water system.
• Several successful representations of clients both in enforcing and in challenges to non-compete and non-solicitation agreements.
• Successful representation of employers in defending age, sex and disability discrimination claims by employees.
• Multiple successful grand jury representations to obtain immunity for corporate executives and to defend companies in the soft drink bottling, dairy, scrap, and metal building industries, with no guilty plea or convictions.
• Provided antitrust counseling and compliance advice to clients in a variety of industries.
• Represented many Fortune 500 companies in merger investigations in the paint, refinery , pipeline, elevator, aircraft part, lubricant, airline, automobile, and proper industries.
• Served as outside general counsel for two national trade associations.
• Selected Cases:
• American Society for Testing Materials v. Corpro Companies, et al., 478 F.3d 557 (3rd Cir., 2007)
• City of Brook Park v. Brook Park Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation, et al., Court of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Probate Division
• Ohio Savings Bank v. Buckingham Mortgage Corporation, Court of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
• Ohio Savings Bank v. Congressional Funding, Inc., Court of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
• Committee on Professional Ethics & Conduct of the Iowa State Bar Assn. v. Humphrey, 355 N.W.2d 565; (Iowa, 1984)
• Phoenix Concrete v. Reserve-Creekway, Inc., 100 Ohio App. 3d 397; 654 N.E.2d 155; (10th Dist., January 24, 1995)
• National City Bank v. Plechaty Cos, 104 Ohio App. 3d 109; 661 N.E.2d 227;  (8th Dist., April 27, 1995)
• Tri-State Hotels, Inc. v. FDIC, 79 F.3d 707; (8th Cir., 1996)
• Rabin v. B & M Realty Corp. In re: Plechaty, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 1276
• Cleveland Bar Association v. Misch, 82 Ohio St. 3d 256; 695 N.E. 2d 244; (1998)
• Cleveland Elec. Illuminating Co. v. Better Meat Prods. Co., No. 74495, 1999 Ohio App. LEXIS 3248; (8th Dist., July 8, 1999)

• Louis D. Brandeis Award for Complex Litigation
• Martindale-Hubbell - A.V. rating
• Selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers by Ohio Super Lawyer magazine since 2006