When Jacoby Sued Meyers

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By Newsweek Editors

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Just as doctors ought to spend a little time under the knife every now and then, so too should lawyers get a taste of their own medicine. That's why the current cat fight between Jacoby & Meyers seems so satisfying. Once J&M was a national chain of storefront law firms catering to normal folks needing wills and seeking bankruptcies and other necessities of American life. Fueled by TV ads and billboards in the 1980s, Jacoby & Meyers grew to 150 offices in six states--a regular 7-Eleven of Where fores and Hereinafters. But like a lot of businesses made up of lawyers, the firm eventually hit the skids: today it's down to 20 offices.

This wasn't an entirely bad thing, because it meant business for other lawyers. Sure enough, Leonard Jacoby has now sued Stephen Meyers (and another principal, Gail Koff) for "at least $2 million." Jacoby claims his partners forced him out with a "devastatingly effective squeeze-out technique." They didn't pay his office rent! he says. And, apart from the money he may have lost, Jacoby alleges "severe emotional distress with accompanying physical and bodily injury, including without limitation headaches and stomach problems." In another time, it would have been a case for Jacoby & Meyers. This time, Jacoby hired a 25-lawyer L.A. firm, one that doesn't advertise on TV.

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