Lee Jacobs, partner, was interviewed for the Law360 article “Barclay Damon Adds Ex-Helbraun Levey Managing Atty in NY” about joining Barclay Damon, his motivations for becoming a labor and employment attorney with a focus on hospitality industry clients, his previous role before joining Barclay Damon, and his work as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School.
Lee’s family has been involved in the hospitality industry for many years. “My grandfather on my mother’s side, when he came back from World War II, he ended his first career as the head maître d’ at the Pierre here in New York City,” Lee said. “And my father’s father and mother owned what would now be considered a chain of fast casual hamburger restaurants in Lower Manhattan.” His family background in hospitality influenced him to start working with restaurant and hospitality clients in his previous role and at Barclay Damon.
Lee also spoke about how working with hospitality industry clients during the COVID-19 pandemic in his previous role shaped his practice. He said, “[That] experience with COVID helped focus my career solely on labor and employment, particularly employment practices and anything that involves the employees.”
At Brooklyn Law School, Lee will continue his work as an adjunct professor and as a faculty advisor to the school’s Moot Court Honor Society. His involvement in the moot court honor society at George Washington University is how he found teaching. “I volunteered for one year and then the next year I was asked to become an adjunct, and I’ve been doing it ever since then,” Lee said. “I’ve been doing it about 12, 13 years now, and it’s one of the most rewarding things that I do beyond working with my clients and being with my family.”
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