Joel Jacobson on Panel for Meritas Member Contacts

Joel N. Jacobson, a Member of law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., and chair of its Real Estate & Finance Practice Group, will be a panelist for the Meritas session “Calling All Member Contacts! Learn How to Capitalize on Your Meritas Membership” on Saturday, May 5, 10:45 a.m. – noon, at the 2018 Meritas Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, Florida.  This presentation is for Member Contacts who are new to the role or would like a refresher.  Meritas requires its firms to provide a designated Member Contact to ensure all matters are handled with care based on its alliance features.  When a prospective client reaches out to a firm, the Member Contact will work with them to understand their needs and connect them with the appropriate attorney with the essential expertise.  In this interactive presentation, participants will learn how to elevate their role by hearing from seasoned Member Contacts.  The session will be moderated by Brett Cohen of Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro LLP in Los Angeles, California.  Other panelists include Jérémie Boublil, Bignon Lebray, Paris, France; Michael DeFrank, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh, North Carolina; and Kim Heinrich, Meritas, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Meritas is an established global alliance of more than 180 independent, full-service law firms, with a comprehensive means of monitoring and enhancing the quality of its member firms—a process that saves clients time in validating law firm credentials and experience.  Firms become members by invitation only and maintain membership by meeting standards of a uniquely comprehensive Quality Assurance Program.  Firms are regularly assessed and recertified for the breadth of their practice expertise and client satisfaction.  Firm quality feedback is reflected in a Satisfaction Index score, which is available online.  Jacobson had been the firm’s representative to Meritas since 1991, when the firm first joined Meritas.

A resident of Chatham, Jacobson focuses his practice primarily on real estate and banking matters.  His clients include banks and other financial institutions, a nationwide hotel owner, a fast food franchisee, private real estate investors and developers, court-appointed receivers, and many non-real estate businesses with real estate needs.  His work experience includes foreclosures, workouts, and sales with respect to thousands of loans secured by a wide range of real estate assets; purchase and sale of commercial loan portfolios and individual loans; representation of private investors and developers with respect to the acquisition, sale, financing, land use approvals, management, and leasing of office and industrial buildings; and representation of court-appointed receivers selected by bank clients in connection with the management and disposition of real estate assets, including construction projects, and environmentally contaminated properties.

In 2011, Jacobson was named the “Newark Area Banking Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession.  He was the only banking law attorney accorded this honor in the State of New Jersey.  Jacobson is also listed in the Banking Law section of the current issue of The Best Lawyers In America and was named by Real Estate New Jersey magazine as one of the state’s top real estate attorneys.  Jacobson has received Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating, its highest lawyer rating, which serves as an objective indicator of a lawyer’s high ethical standards and legal knowledge.

Jacobson earned his J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.A., cum laude, from University of Pennsylvania.