Todd C. Jacobs

Todd Jacobs is the firm's Managing Principal and a member of its Executive Committee.

He litigates all manner and variety of complex business cases nationwide. Included within his practice are class-action defense, complex contract cases (often involving claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and related tort theories), mass tort insurance coverage litigation, employment litigation and intellectual property litigation.

Mr. Jacobs has represented numerous clients in these and other areas, including: Amazon.com, CNA, EMC2, Fireman’s Fund, GEAC Enterprise Solutions, IBM and RealNetworks.

Recent Notable Cases:

Lead counsel for Amazon.com, DIRECTV and RealNetworks in U.S. Supreme Court appeal concerning enforcement of class-action arbitration waivers.

Lead counsel for IBM in disputes relating to implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and related software. See, e.g., Irwin Seating Co. v. IBM, Slip Copy, 2009 WL 32711 (6th Cir. 2009) (affirming grant of summary judgment to IBM on contract claims and dismissal of fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims); 2007 WL 518866 (W.D. Mich. 2007) (affirming magistrate’s order striking plaintiff’s experts for violation of mediation confidentiality); Business Systems Engineering v. IBM, 547 F.3d 882 (7th Cir. 2008) (affirming grant of summary judgment to IBM on all claims); 249 F.R.D. 313 (awarding costs); M. Block & Sons, Inc. v. IBM, 2004 WL 1557631 (N.D. Ill. 2004) (dismissing common law fraud, breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and warranty claims).

National coordinating counsel for streaming media pioneer RealNetworks in multidistrict privacy class-action litigation relating to RealPlayer and RealJukebox software. See, e.g., Lieschke v. RealNetworks, Inc., 2000 WL 198424 (N.D. Ill. 2000); In re RealNetworks, Inc. Privacy Litigation, 2000 WL 631341 (N.D. Ill. 2000); RealNetworks, Inc. v. Superior Court in and for the County of Orange, 2001 WL 1527492 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. 2001) (putative class actions dismissed and claims ordered into individual, non-class arbitrations).

Lead counsel for RealNetworks in defense of consumer class-actions relating to the RealOne online-subscription service. See, e.g., Koresko v. RealNetworks, Inc., 291 F. Supp. 2d 1157 (E.D. Cal. 2003) (dismissing case pursuant to End-User License Agreement forum selection clause).

Counsel for Amazon.com in defense of patent infringement claims relating to on-line personalization technologies. Pinpoint, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 347 F. Supp. 2d 579 (N.D. Ill. 2004) (Posner, J. sitting by designation) (case dismissed for lack of standing); 369 F. Supp. 2d 995 (N.D. Ill. 2005) (subsequently filed case dismissed with prejudice following favorable claim construction).

Trial counsel for CNA in New York state court class-action litigation (four-month bench trial) pertaining to alleged unaggregated "non-products" exposure for asbestos bodily injury claims. Continental Casualty Co. v. Employers Ins. Co. of Wausau et al., 871 N.Y.S.2d 48 (N.Y.A.D. 1 Dept. 2008) (Phase I) (no coverage for class claims) and 865 N.Y.S.2d 855 (N.Y. Sup. October 14, 2008) (Phase II) (defense costs ruling for CNA).  Opponents and the trade press described this as a "landmark" decision on the "non-products" issue.  Mr. Jacobs is currently representing CNA in two California state court cases and one arbitration presenting similar issues.  See Employers Reinsurance Co. v. Superior Court, 161 Cal. App. 4th 906, 74 Cal. Rptr. 3d 733 (2d Dist. 2008) (establishing that course of performance evidence is relevant to interpretation of insurance contracts).

Trial counsel for Fireman’s Fund in Florida bankruptcy court litigation pertaining to coverage for asbestos bodily injury and asbestos property damage claims. See Celotex Corp. v. AIU Ins. Co. et al., 216 B.R. 867 and 222 B.R. 644 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1998) (defense judgment on late notice grounds); 251 B.R. 163 (awarding costs).  The judgment in Fireman's Fund's favor was recently affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.   See In re Celotex Corp., 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 14522 (11th Cir., July 7, 2008).

Over the past decade, Mr. Jacobs has successfully defended Fireman's Fund in more than a dozen employment cases alleging various forms of discrimination and/or breach of contract. Each of these cases was dismissed at the pleading stage or on summary judgment.

Publications:

Mr. Jacobs has written on the enforceability of arbitration and forum selection clauses in on-line contracts. Todd C. Jacobs and Gary M. Miller, Enforcing Clickwrap Agreements, NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL, March 11, 2002.

Recent Awards:

In September 2008, Mr. Jacobs was made an honorary North American member of the Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR), the leading organization of British barristers.

He was voted a "Business Litigation Super Lawyer" from 2005-2010 (current) in Chicago Magazine's Annual Guide to the Top Attorneys in Illinois and one of the "Top Lawyers in Illinois" and "Leading Lawyer - Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Law, Commercial Litigation and Insurance, Insurance Coverage & Reinsurance Law" by Leading Lawyers Network (Chicago Law Bulletin).

Personal:

He lives with his wife, three children and an indomitable Alaskan Husky in Chicago's northern suburbs.