Allow Me to Introduce Myself
By: Jason Jacoby | Published October 30, 2018
If you’re already a client, if you follow us on social media (Facebook or LinkedIn), or perhaps if you’re an avid follower of local business happenings, you may have seen that I joined Cripps & Simmons as an associate attorney back in July of this year. What a wild three months it’s been, I can tell you! I have learned so much from the attorneys and staff that I can hardly believe it.
I was born in Manhattan, New York City, but my parents and I moved south soon after I was born to South Carolina. We lived there until I was about 10 years old, when my family moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. After obtaining my bachelor’s degree in History and Anthropology from the University of Arkansas, I moved to Oxford, Mississippi with the intention of getting a Master’s degree in History. Although I ultimately went in a different direction academically and professionally, I’m glad I went to Oxford, because that’s where I met my wife! She relocated to work in Columbia shortly thereafter, and I joined her in 2012. We love Columbia! In fact, we love this area so much that we decided Columbia needed a brand new resident; our first kiddo should arrive near the end of February 2019.
I am a 2016 graduate from the University of Missouri School of Law, where I received the school’s Tax Certification in Estate Planning. I didn’t discover my love of estate planning and elder law until after the end of my first year. To be honest, when I started law school, I had no clue what kind of work I wanted to do. My first introduction to the practice of law took place in central Arkansas, where I worked for a bankruptcy practice as a legal assistant. After relocating to Columbia, I took a job with the Boone County Courthouse working as a deputy clerk for the Family Division. So, when I decided to go to law school, both bankruptcy and family law were real considerations but I had also considered entertainment law because of my love of music.
The problem was that I never really saw myself practicing in any of those fields even though there was something about all of them that drew me. The one thing I recognized that first year, though, was that I was committed to the idea that legal practice is about helping people – plain and simple. The summer after my first year I worked as a research assistant for Professor David English, where I was introduced to estates and trusts, probate law, and guardianship and conservatorship. The rest, as they say, is history!
I feel right at home at Cripps & Simmons. The firm is committed to providing legal services tailor-made for each individual client. I am proud to help provide the client-centered approach that, for me, is so important. When you have a legal matter that falls within one of our practice areas, please give us a call! I look forward to getting to know and help you.
Oh, and by the way, if you’re curious to know what happened after my first year of law school to get me so fired up about the types of law I now practice, keep an eye out for my next blog, where I’ll talk about the MO-WINGS Task Force and its impact on Missouri guardianship and conservatorship law.