John Patrick Jacobs

John Patrick Jacobs passed away peacefully on Friday, September 22, 2023. A longtime pillar of Detroit’s legal community, John was widely regarded as the state’s finest appellate attorney, trying and arguing countless cases in front of Michigan’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and the federal appellate court. Above all else, he was a devoted husband, father, brother and grandfather as well as a mentor and friend to many.

John’s personality was as big as his heart. He was always the most gregarious, forthright, funny and commanding person in any room. People who met him never forgot him. His wit was unmatched. He was a fierce advocate for his family, his friends, his clients and the less fortunate. John was everyone’s advice giver, fatherly figure, legal advisor and friend. And much to his daughter’s chagrin, he was always right and never, ever wrong about anything.

John’s entrée into the world was a difficult one and showcased his fighting spirit right from the start: He was born prematurely in a hotel room in Chicago in 1945. He spent the first few months of his life in a newly opened, state-of-the-art infant center at Northwestern University Hospital. Once strong enough, John’s parents took him home to the metro Detroit area where he lived the rest of his life.

John was a lifelong Detroit booster and purposefully centered his legal practices in the city where he was near the courts, the restaurants and urban vibrancy he loved. He always considered himself a city boy. He grew up on Detroit’s east side in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood where he attended St. Martin of Tours for elementary and high school. John always credited the Catholic nuns who ran the school for his later success and devotion to the Catholic faith.

John attended the University of Detroit for undergraduate and law school, graduating first in his class with his Juris Doctor degree. It was in law school that John’s lifelong passion and dedication to progressive causes and pro bono legal work took root. After law school, he worked as a clerk for the Chief Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals, and then, in 1971, he was named to a Reginald Heber Smith Civil Rights Project fellowship during which he worked on civil rights cases.

When he returned to Detroit, he was hired by Plunkett Cooney where he led the firm’s appellate practice division, the very first department of its kind in Michigan. He worked at Plunkett Cooney for more than 20 years, eventually leaving to establish and lead several independent law firms. He was most recently the founding partner of Jacobs and Diemer, an appellate specialty law firm that has reversed more than $3 billion in judgments.

His professional accolades are many but include: A Life Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers; Lawyer of the Year and Honoree by Michigan Lawyers Weekly; Lawyer of the Year and Honoree and Excellence in Defense Award by the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel (MDTC); and the Monsignor Malloy Award by the Archdiocese of Detroit and Catholic Lawyers Society for exceptional ethics. In 2017, MDTC established the John P. Jacobs Appellate Advocacy Award to honor the very best civil appellate attorneys in the state; he was the first awardee. He also was retained to be appellate counsel for the State Bar of Michigan.

Over the decades, he served in different leadership capacities for MDTC, the Catholic Lawyers Society of the Archdiocese of Detroit, the International Association of Defense Counsel, the American Constitution Society, the Michigan Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Bar Association, the Michigan Bar Association, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, the Michigan State Bar Foundation, the Supreme Court of the United States Historical Society, the Arab American Bar Association, the Irish American Bar Association and the Michigan State Bar Standing Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics.

John was a lifelong Catholic and Democratic Party member who was active in both the Church and party throughout his life as a donor and activist at the national and state levels. He was also a longtime member of the Detroit Athletic Club and an unrivalled fan of the rock band The Who.

John is survived by his wife of 50 years, Linda (nee Grams), daughter, Christine (Neil), granddaughter, Frances, brother, James (Joyce), sister, Joann (Charles), nephews, David (Laura), Brian (Angie) and Paul (Amy), nieces Carolyn (Joseph) and Leslie and sister-in-law Christine (Allan) and countless friends and colleagues in the legal community.

A funeral mass will take place at Saints Peter and Paul Jesuit Church at 12 p.m. noon on Thursday, September 28. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can made to the Capuchins at St Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit, Doctors Without Borders or Forgotten Harvest.