Monthly Feature: Get to Know... Nick Jacobson
November 1, 2024
Nick Jacobson first thought about a career in law when he was put in the hotseat during a high school class in criminal law, an elective he had signed up for with little more than a mild interest. As he recalls, “Our final exam was a mock trial. We were all assigned a role. I was selected to be counsel for the defense. I was probably a bit put out that unlike a juror, I had to really prepare for my role. As it turned out, I did so well representing the defendant that I started to think about a career in law.”
As a history major at SUNY Binghamton, Nick was still uncertain about pursuing law school. During high school, he had spent more time working after school and on weekends at the local hardware store than studying. Once he got to college, he focused on school and graduated magna cum laude in three years and earned a scholarship to Syracuse Law.
Some 16 years later, it’s clear that Nick chose the right career. In 2024, Bond named him a member of the firm. He’s also been recognized as “One to Watch” by The Best Lawyers in America® since 2022, and as a New York Super Lawyers® Rising Star every year since 2018.
Nick originally thought he’d work as an Assistant District Attorney, having enjoyed an internship with the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office before law school, but eventually decided a career in criminal law was not for him.
During law school, Nick was able to develop his litigation skills while working for the Madison County Attorney, where he received a Student Practice Order and appeared in court in juvenile delinquency and other family court proceedings. He also clerked for United States District Court Judge David N. Hurd (Northern District of New York) during his 3L year, which he considers “the best research and legal writing experience I could have gotten.”
After passing the bar, Nick took a position at a Syracuse firm practicing general litigation, where over 4 years he traveled to court rooms across New York, handling cases from truck accidents to shareholder actions to trusts & estates disputes. Having experience approaching employment litigation matters from various points of view—as a neutral judicial law clerk, as counsel for employees, and now exclusively as counsel for the employer—gives Nick a unique perspective. “Taking a creative outside-the-box approach, particularly in unusual cases, is my niche.”
Originally from the Syracuse suburb of Baldwinsville, Nick now commutes to Bond’s Rochester office from the Wyoming County farm where he lives with his wife, an accountant who manages her family’s 10,000-acre crop farm. The farm provides feed for the area’s dairy farms and organic and conventionally grown vegetables to grocery stores throughout the region.
“It’s funny that when I attended college with a lot of downstate folks, many assumed that I lived on a farm. I didn’t then, but now I do. It means a lot to me to live where I do, and still have the opportunity to work with Bond offices and clients around the state.”
