Meet Drew Jacobs: Founder of Jacobs Counsel

I started Jacobs Counsel the same way I earned a spot on a Division I basketball team: by showing up when nobody expected me to, and refusing to leave until I'd proven I belonged.

The Walk-On Mentality

Before law school, I was a walk-on in the ACC at Boston College, where I studied finance in the Carroll School of Management Honors Program. Nobody recruited me. Nobody handed me a roster spot. I earned it the hard way, and that experience shaped everything about how I practice law today.

Walk-ons learn something that most people never do: when you have no margin for error, preparation becomes your competitive advantage. That mindset carried me through law school and into a career as an NFLPA-Certified Contract Advisor, where I negotiated professional athlete contracts and learned firsthand how deals get done at the highest level.

Building Jacobs Counsel

I founded Jacobs Counsel in 2023, immediately after law school. No partner track. No associate years. I licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio, and started building from scratch.

The premise was simple: the traditional law firm model is broken for the people I want to serve. Founders and creators don't need a partner billing $900 an hour to review a contract. They need an attorney who understands their business, moves at their speed, and charges a price they can actually plan around.

So I built the firm on fixed fees. No billable hours. No surprise invoices. Every client knows exactly what they're paying before we start. Within the first year, the firm hit six-figure revenue with zero employees and no marketing budget. Just referrals, results, and relationships.

What the Firm Does Today

Jacobs Counsel is an AI-native boutique law firm. That means I use technology to deliver BigLaw-quality legal work at a fraction of the cost, without sacrificing the strategic depth that actually matters.

The practice covers four core areas:

Gaming Compliance & 50-State Legal Opinions. I advise gaming operators, fantasy sports platforms, and skill-based gaming companies on the patchwork of state gambling laws across the country. When a platform needs to know whether it can legally operate in a given state, my office produces the legal opinion that answers that question. This work sits at the intersection of regulatory law, licensing, and business strategy.

Startup Outside Counsel. I serve as embedded legal counsel for early-stage and growth-stage companies on a monthly subscription basis. Formation, equity structuring, IP protection, vendor agreements, fundraising documents. The goal is to give founders a legal partner who's always available without the overhead of hiring in-house.

Estate Planning. I help high-net-worth families, professionals, and business owners build estate plans that actually reflect how they live. Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and business succession planning. Fixed fees, no hourly billing.

Creator Economy & Athlete Brand Protection. I work with content creators, influencers, and athletes who treat their name as a business. Brand deal negotiations, trademark filings, entity formation, and wealth protection strategies designed for people whose income doesn't follow a traditional paycheck model.

Teaching the Next Generation

I also serve as the Director of Sports, Entertainment & Gaming Initiatives at Seton Hall University School of Law, where I run the Annual Gaming Law Bootcamp. The program brings together 150+ attorneys, regulators, and industry leaders each year to tackle the legal questions that the gaming industry is still figuring out in real time.

Teaching keeps me sharp. It forces me to stay ahead of the regulatory curve and connected to the people shaping this space.

The Operating Philosophy

Three principles run through everything I do:

Close Deals. I don't just review contracts. I help clients get transactions across the finish line. Legal work should create momentum, not slow it down.

Protect Assets. Structure matters. The right entity, the right IP filings, the right estate plan. These aren't afterthoughts; they're the foundation that lets everything else compound.

Build Legacies. I work with people who are building something that lasts. The legal strategy should match that ambition.

Jacobs Counsel exists for founders, athletes, creators, and dealmakers who refuse to operate without a plan. If that sounds like you, let's talk.