A skilled trial and appellate lawyer, Jake represents corporations and individuals in civil, criminal, and regulatory matters. He has considerable experience managing internal and government investigations and complex commercial disputes, as well as briefing and arguing civil and criminal appeals. Clients value Jake’s rigorous analytical skills, aptitude for distilling complex material into clear-cut legal arguments, and commitment to building long-term relationships.
Jake has successfully prosecuted and defended a wide range of high-stakes civil cases, including commercial contract disputes, shareholder derivative actions, mortgage-backed securities litigation, constitutional litigation, and lawsuits involving alleged violations of federal, state, and municipal law. He has significant in-court experience, including briefing and arguing countless civil and criminal appeals and dispositive trial motions. Jake has had particular success challenging unlawful government action, including numerous high-profile victories against state and local governments. For example, Jake has successfully protected the healthcare rights of hundreds of thousands of retired New York City municipal employees, saving them, to date, roughly $2 billion in health insurance expenses. He has achieved similar groundbreaking victories for active and retired civil servants in other parts of the country. Jake is outside counsel to the Uniformed Fire Officers Association (the union for lieutenants, captains, chiefs, medical officers, and supervising fire marshals in the New York City Fire Department) and the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees (the organization representing the interests of approximately 250,000 retired New York City municipal employees).
Jake maintains an active pro bono practice and has served as a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s pro bono panel. He has represented on appeal and retrial indigent defendants convicted of murder. He also worked with the New York State Justice Task Force to prevent wrongful convictions and assisted with the filing of a civil rights class action on behalf of indigent criminal defendants deprived of their right to counsel.
Before joining WMHW, Jake practiced law at a preeminent global firm, where he assisted with internal FCPA and securities fraud investigations and handled complex commercial disputes. He also served for several years as a New York City firefighter, assigned to Ladder 43 in East Harlem.
Jake is an active contributor of legal scholarship. His academic work on procedural justice and campaign finance law has been published in Northwestern University School of Law’s Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology and Boston University’s Journal of Science & Technology Law, respectively. In addition, he has co-authored a chapter on employee rights in Global Investigations Review’s 2019, 2020, and 2021 The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations.
Show More +Recognitions
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Best Lawyers (2025)
500 X – Next Generation, Lawdragon (2024)
Rising Star, New York Law Journal (2021)
Activities
Professional Affiliations
- Member, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit – Pro Bono Panel (2021-2023)
Community Activities
- Big Brother (2012-present)