Thomas M. Jacobson, born May 8, 1938, in Bamberg, Germany.

He escaped Hitler and came to America on the harrowing voyage of the MS St. Louis one year later. He graduated from UW-Madison Law School in 1962, partnering with Lloyd Barbee to form the first integrated law firm in Milwaukee. Jacobson represented all the Milwaukee civil rights movers and shakers over the next thirty years, including Father James Groppi, the Daniel Bell family, comedian/human rights activist Dick Gregory, and Alderperson/

Black Panther Commander Michael McGee. He successfully argued two cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, overturning Wisconsin’s Garnishment before Judgment and Change of Venue laws. In 1970, Jacobson was the Democratic candidate for Wisconsin Attorney General. In the late 1970s, he served as the Chairperson of the Wisconsin Public Defender’s office. Jacobson represented eight families of the victims of the world’s worst serial murderer, Jeffrey Dahmer, suing and successfully obtaining one-half million dollars for eleven victim families.