John L. Jacobus

Partner

• jjacobus@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Mr. Jacobus is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Litigation and International Departments.  Mr. Jacobus graduated from the Harvard Law School in 1989.  He joined Steptoe after clerking for a US Federal District Judge and serving for several years as a trial attorney in the Attorney General's Honor Program at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC. 

Litigation
Mr. Jacobus is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, where he focuses on commercial disputes.  He also focuses on internal corporate investigations and compliance matters, with a special emphasis on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Over the course of his career, both in public and private service, he has appeared in numerous state and federal court proceedings throughout the United States and has jury trial experience.  While at the US Department of Justice, Mr. Jacobus received several commendations for his trial work, including the presentation of two Special Achievement Awards from the US Attorney General (for Sustained Superior Performance of Duty and for Meritorious Acts or Service).

Insurance/Reinsurance
Since he joined Steptoe, a major part of Mr. Jacobus’s work has been with the firm’s Insurance and Reinsurance practice group, where he has focused on handling complex cases that have resulted in arbitration and/or litigation.  His work on behalf of insurers and reinsurers has involved a broad range of issues, including rescission, ratification, the duty of utmost good faith, the validity of statistical damage models, occurrence law, and allocation between policy holders. 

As to the reinsurance field in particular, Mr. Jacobus has participated in arbitrations in both the United States and the United Kingdom (London Court of International Arbitration).  These arbitrations have involved the leading issues to affect the industry, including resolution of the insurance “spirals” affecting the workers’ compensation carve-out/London Market Excess (LMX) business at Lloyds and in the London Market, and issues affecting “alternative risk transfer” products.  Mr. Jacobus also counsels insurers and reinsurers on antitrust matters, particularly those involving the “Spitzer” allegations of bid-rigging and market steering. 

Mr. Jacobus is a member of the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS) in both the United States (ARIAS-US) and the United Kingdom (ARIAS-UK).  He is also currently the Chairman of the Insurance and Reinsurance Practice Group for Lex Mundi, the world’s largest association of private law firms.   

Representative Matters

Antitrust

• City of Benton v. NRC, 136 F.3d 824 (DC Cir. 1998)
• Red Lion Medical Safety v. Ohmeda, Inc., 63 F. Supp.2d 1218 ( E.D. Cal. 1999).

Insurance

• United Technologies Corp. v. American Home Assur. Co., 118 F. Supp.2d 190 (D. Conn. 2000).

Constitutional Law

• Evans v. Williams, 206 F.3d 1292 (DC Cir. 2000)
• Nixon v. United States, 978 F.2d 1269 (DC Cir. 1992)
• Szefczek v. Hillsborough Beacon, 286 N.J. Super. 242, 668 A.2d 1099 (Law Div. 1995)

Noteworthy

• Special Achievement Award, US Department of Justice, 1993
• Special Achievement Award, US Department of Justice, 1994
• Mr. Jacobus regularly presents lectures on current legal issues, particularly in the field of insurance and reinsurance. Recent appearances have included Mealey's "Fundamentals of Reinsurance Litigation and Arbitration Conference" in 2005 and 2006.

Select News & Events

• Conflicts of Interest Commentary Article
• Developments in Reinsurance Arbitrations: What Works and What Does Not in the US, Bermuda, and the UK, February 8, 2008, (A Steptoe-sponsored event)
  Reinsurance Seminar
• John Jacobus Speaks at Reinsurance Arbitration at Mealey's 14th Annual Insurance Insolvency & Reinsurance Roundtable, April 27, 2007

Publications

• Briefing Paper : US Asbestos Liabilities
  June 2007
• Conflicts of Interest Affecting Counsel in International Arbitrations
  August 2005, 20 Mealey's International Arbitration Report No. 8
• Briefing Note: The Spitzer Investigation
  2004
• Suspension of Limitation Periods in Cases of Fraud or Negligent Concealment - Fairness and Market Efficiencies
  November 13, 2003, 14 Mealey’s Litigation Report
• The Right to Arbitrate Reinsurance Disputes is Preserved After September 11
  May 16, 2002, 13 Mealey's Litigation Report: Reinsurance No. 2
• Constitutional Law: Eminent Domain and Conditional Grants of Building Permits
  1988, 11 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y
• Constitutional Law: The Eighth Amendment and Sympathy Instructions to Juries in Death Penalty Cases
  1987, 10 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y

Professional Affiliations

• American Bar Association
• ARIAS - US
• ARIAS - UK