Jeff Jacobs In Memoriam August 1951 – July 2024

Written by By Bill Thayer and Craig Schauermann

In July, just before his 73rd birthday, our good friend and former law partner Jeff Jacobs passed away from cancer.

Jeff and his wife Cheryl had relocated to the Phoenix area, where they could be geographically closer to their sons’ families, after Jeff’s retirement from the practice of law in 2017 (from Schauermann Thayer & Jacobs, now known as Schauermann Thayer). In Arizona, in addition to being active with family and community, Jeff and Cheryl continued to enjoy their favorite recreational activities, including travel, flying airplanes, and music (Jeff played the guitar and was a friend of and erstwhile event organizer for Randy Sparks’ folk music group, The New Christy Minstrels).

As an example of the community contributions they made, Jeff and Cheryl served as volunteers, flying their private plane to various locations to assist the Arizona medical community with expediting deliveries of donated blood needed to save lives.

Quoting from the memorial pamphlet prepared by his family:

“Jeffrey Paul Jacobs was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was an extraordinary man who excelled in strength of character, depth of intellect, and a servant’s heart. His greatest accomplishment was being a faithful follower of Jesus, which included being a devoted husband to his wife Cheryl for 51 years. While he was a respected trial attorney for over 40 years, his real passion was flying a variety of different aircraft. He loved folk music, photography, guitar, and seemed to know everything about everything. But most of all he loved the people in his life with the kind of love that God showed him. We miss him, but we know that he lives.“

Craig and I want to share a bit more about Jeff, though, from the perspective of two of the lawyers who worked with him through a substantial part of his professional life.

As his son Matt said at the memorial service held for his dad in Phoenix in August, Jeff was the kind of person who—by his actions more than his words—set an example of not only how to live “a good life” but also of how to have “a good death”.

This was evident from a visit at bedside Craig and I were able to have with Jeff, just a few weeks before he passed. His wife, sons, daughters-in-law and other family were with him, in and out around him, throughout his final days. Caring for him and sharing love. When Jeff was alone with us, a raised hand gesturing with a wave in the direction of the kitchen where Cheryl and Matt were preparing coffee and snacks for us, Jeff said: “Those people, my family, they are amazing.” Tears were in his eyes. Not just then, but always throughout all the years we knew him, Jeff’s love for his wife Cheryl, for his sons Tim and Matt, and for their respective spouses and his grandchildren was evident and inspirational.

As his other son Tim Jacobs pointed out in an online announcement about his father’s passing, in this world of people usually quite busy taking “selfies”, Jeff was a man who was more interested in taking pictures of the world around him—making sure that his friends and family did not miss out on its beauty and amazingness.

He always thought of others and how to make their lives better. Not of himself.

We can add that, as his friend, Jeff was interesting and interested, consistent, and likewise always caring. A man with a quick wit, expressed with words so droll that often the joke was missed.

During that brief final visit we were fortunate enough to have with him this past July, Craig and I were able to reminisce with Jeff about how our law partnership Schauermann Thayer & Jacobs came to be. In short, back in 1999, we were looking for someone with experience in our field of practice (plaintiff personal injury)—and, above all else, for someone with integrity. We knew Jeff had already handled a number of personal injury jury trials since he had arrived in Clark County (from having been a lawyer in Southern California), and then Craig had an opportunity to personally observe Jeff advocating for a personal injury client in an arbitration. Jeff was indeed a warrior. The more we had learned, the more we had been impressed with his skills—how consistently dedicated, prepared, and devoted to his client’s cause the man always was. Steady.

So, we decided to approach him. When we asked him if he would join our then-two attorney law firm, he promptly said yes. And as it turned out, it was a match made in heaven; we had acquired a wonderful partner and friend.

From 1999 the three of us remained the core of the partnership, from then until around 2015, when Craig retired. Then Jeff retired at the beginning of 2017. And finally, I did, in 2021. Along the way, our firm had added Scott Staples, Scott Edwards, Brad Thayer, and Ben Melnick as partners, who more than amply filled our “exiting” shoes.

As we all know in our business, law firms are not known for longevity. Partners rarely stick it out with each other for a decade or more. In our case, Jeff, Craig and I never had a cross word. Ours was a trident of harmony. Decisions were made as they should be, in the spirit of cooperation and democracy. Always, the three of us put our clients’ interests first.

As our law firm continued to grow, that mindset was passed along. The four fine attorneys who now operate Schauermann Thayer speak very highly of Jeff Jacobs, the role that he played in mentoring them, and the example that he set in how to be a good lawyer and a good partner.

Jeff’s professionalism as an attorney was beyond reproach. As an example of this, I’ll share with you what two former insurance defense attorneys have said about him—lawyers who on more than one occasion were opponents of his in cases that Jeff tried over the years here in Clark County. Upon learning of Jeff’s death, one—Pat Reece, now a plaintiff PI attorney—told me: “There was no more honest, polite, and fair-minded person as an opponent. When he was an arbitrator, he was extremely well prepared and had diligently read and studied all of the written materials before the hearing. Jeff was always extremely dialed in.” Another, Jack Welch—now retired other than serving as an arbitrator or mediator—shared this with me: “Jeff was one of the good ones. Respectful and a straight shooter. On the list of attorneys with whom I always welcomed having a case.”

The point being, when as a professional you are both respected and praised by your opponents, in addition to being loved by your clients, partners, and everyone else in the court system, you are really doing something right.

So concludes this effort to sum up “a good life”. Although it was too short, Jeff’s life was a perfect example of how to be a professional—without sacrificing family, or the joy of favorite non-work pastimes. He was a rare individual, and there are a number of us who have been around awhile—in the local bar and the Clark County litigation scene who knew or worked with Jeff Jacobs—who will always treasure our memories of him.