Matthew J. Jacobs is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm’s Silicon Valley office. Matt heads the Firm’s White-Collar Criminal Defense Practice Group in Northern California. He has more than 15 years of experience as a trial lawyer handling white-collar defense, internal investigations and complex commercial litigation. Recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the Bay Area in his field, Matt represents individuals and corporations in complex commercial litigation, and criminal and internal investigations involving the government, whether the Justice Department, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), or another agency.
Prior to joining McDermott, Matt was a federal prosecutor in San Francisco for the Northern District of California. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he served as the lead trial lawyer in numerous significant prosecutions involving securities fraud, health care, energy trading, banking and international money laundering. Matt was one of the prosecutors on the Enron case involving energy trading in California. He is the recipient of the Justice Department’s Director’s Award and the FBI’s Director’s Award.
As a McDermott partner heading a team of experienced lawyers representing individuals and companies in high stakes “bet your company” matters, Matt is experienced in, and gets great results in, cases across a wide variety of areas.
Representative Experience
- Represented international companies in several criminal investigations concerning allegations of antitrust price fixing, as well as numerous related civil cases.
- Represented a special committee of the board of directors of a public company in internal investigation regarding options backdating.
- Represented several former chief financial officers of public companies in connection with governmental and special committee investigations regarding options backdating.
- Represented a corporation in dealings with the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency in connection with alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and other environmental issues.
- Represented former top executive of a publicly traded pharmaceutical company in connection with Justice Department investigation of health care fraud and off-label promotion.
- Represented a former executive of a public educational software company in connection with a bribery investigation.
- Represented partners of a Big Four accounting firm in connection with international money laundering investigation and attempted forfeiture of assets of a foreign located bank, in a case involving the former Prime Minister of the Ukraine.
- Represented the former chief financial officer of a public company in connection with an SEC investigation into insider trading.
- Represented a former executive in an internal investigation concerning allegations of revenue recognition.
- Represented a publicly traded company in connection with the theft of its trade secrets.
Experience with the Media
Matt has experience in dealing with the media, an important advantage for clients in high profile cases. He holds a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and prior to law school was an award-winning editor of a newspaper in Louisiana. While a federal prosecutor, Matt served as the press spokesman for three U.S. Attorneys including Robert S. Mueller, current director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Community Activities
Matt is recognized by local publications as one of the top lawyers in the Bay Area. He is also sought after as a teacher, writer and commentator. Matt previously co-taught a course on white-collar issues at the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), and taught seminars at other schools, including Stanford Law School. He speaks frequently on panels, previously appearing before a group of board members of publicly traded companies in Silicon Valley, and to another group made up of public company audit committee members.
Matt is active in the community. He has been appointed by the judges of the Northern District of California to the Criminal Justice Act panel representing indigent criminal defendants in federal court. He has also been appointed by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to handle pro bono appeals. He is Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Criminal Justice Panel of the San Francisco Bar Association, and also serves on the Steering Committee of the Federal Bar Association.
Matt graduated Order of the Coif from Stanford Law School. He was an associate editor of the Law Review at Stanford. After law school, he was law clerk to the Honorable Walter J. Cummings on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit based in Chicago. He is a member of the California Bar and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of United States and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Ninth Circuits.
Education
- Stanford Law School, J.D., 1992
- Northwestern University, M.S. (with honors), 1985
- American University, B.A. (cum laude), 1983
