Jody Thomas Lopez Jacobs

Born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Jody Thomas López-Jacobs grew up in a diverse household that stressed the importance of social and economic justice for all. After working his way through high school and college, Mr. López-Jacobs joined an employment law firm where he helped workers fight for unpaid wages, safe work conditions, and equal treatment on the job.

His passion for the law and helping others took him to Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class, interned with a state and federal judge, and won second place in a national writing competition. He also continued his pursuit for justice by investigating claims of innocence at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, demanding unpaid wages on behalf of low and middle-income workers, and helping a local nonprofit combat corporate efforts to eliminate the right to a jury trial through mandatory arbitration agreements.

After law school, Mr. López-Jacobs clerked for the Honorable Mark A. Kearney, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mr. López-Jacobs is well acquainted with the rules and procedures governing our federal court system.

Mr. López-Jacobs is devoted to the cause of consumers and cherishes the opportunity to help consumers enforce their rights. He believes consumers deserve to be free from harassment, deception, and other illegal conduct they are too often forced to bear. He looks forward to advocating for your rights. 

Since joining the firm in 2017, Mr. Lopez-Jacobs has had great success in obtaining relief for consumers whose rights have been violated. His notable achievements include key roles in:

• Hyman v. Devlin
  No. 17-00089 (W.D. Pa.)
  Wrongful repossession and civil rights case where the jury awarded a verdict of $500,000 in punitive damage against a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper for unlawfully aiding in the repossession of a consumer's vehicle, in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
• Droney v. Vivint Solar
  2018 WL 6191887 (D.N.J. Nov. 28, 2018)
  Door-to Door sales solar panel seller must fact trial on whether it defrauded consumer refusing to enforce arbitration clause that waives the right to a jury trial.
• Shaw v. Law Office of Hayt Hayt & Landau
  2018 WL 1634829 (D.N.J. Apr. 5, 2018)
  Debt collector must face trial over whether it maliciously used/abused the court system to unlawfully garnish consumers' ban accounts on debts that belonged to someone else.

Mr. López-Jacobs is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

Education

J.D., Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia, PA

Magna cum laude 

Order of the Coif

Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society, Fellow

Temple Law Review (2014-2015), Research Editor

Beasley Scholarship Recipient

B.A., Sociology, Millersville University, Lancaster, PA

Dean's List

Publications

Jody Thomas López-Jacobs, Storytelling Tips for Lawyers, THE PENNSYLVANIA LAWYER (Sept./Oct. 2019)

Jody Thomas López-Jacobs, First But Not the Last: Judge Cathy Bissoon, HOUSTON'S LEGACY (Pa. Bar Assoc. Spring 2019)

Cole et al., A Changing Landscape:  Pennsylvania Counties Reevaluate Policies on Immigration Detainers (2015) /assets/Uploads/b07f2e0344/a-changing-landscape.pdf.

Jody Thomas López-Jacobs, Comment, Is There a Border Exception to the Exclusionary Rule?  87 Temp. L Rev. 611 (2015)

Jody Thomas López-Jacobs, Who Owns the Tips (2014), /assets/Uploads/04157b6ad8/Jody-20Lopez-Jacobs-20paper-20revised.pdf

Bar Admissions

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

Awards and Honors

American Bar Association, Section of Labor & Employment

Writing Competition - Second Place- 2014

Nat N. Wolfsohn Memorial Award in Real Property - 2015

Judicial Internship Opportunity Program 

Award Recipient - 2013

Associations

Pennsylvania Bar Association 

Montgomery Bar Association

National Association of Consumer Advocates

Presentations

2019

National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Rights Litigation Conference and Class Action Symposium
"Repossessions: FDCPA Claims, Breach of the Peace, and Big Verdicts"
Boston, MA

2018

Superior Court of Pennsylvania En Banc Arguments
Hosted and summarized the review of important cases to be argued before all nine judges of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania

2017

Debt Collection      
Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurial Empowerment  Symposium, "Protecting a Consumer's Rights"  
Temple University, 9/29/17

Admitted to Practice

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey