As a workhorse attorney, Steve Jacoway is willing to put in the time needed to help his clients reach a desired result.
Jacoway was born and raised in Chattanooga, earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and received his legal education at Memphis School of Law.
Unlike many of his colleagues in the local bar, however, Jacoway didn’t envision himself as a lawyer from a young age. Rather, he began considering the law as he weighed his career options in college.
“Even if you never practice law, a law degree opens doors. So I took the LSAT. Then, the more I looked at the market for lawyers, the more the practice of law looked like a good opportunity for me,” he says.
Jacoway cut his teeth doing domestic and criminal defense work in Memphis for two years, and then accepted an offer from what was then Patrick, Beard & Richardson that brought him home.
“They allowed me to practice the kind of law I wanted,” Jacoway says. “They also let me do court appointed work. I dealt with judges and district attorneys, and tried cases in front of juries. Even though the firm took a hit financially, this allowed me to build up my trial abilities and my criminal defense practice.”
He’s been with the firm that now bears his name - Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway - ever since.
Now a seasoned litigator, Jacoway defines his practice as “unusual” in that he does a mix of commercial business, domestic and criminal defense work. He laughs as he says he enjoys litigation “as much as any lawyer does.”
“You usually have a relatively concrete and somewhat swift conclusion as opposed to drafting a contract, where you might not know for five years whether or not you did good work,” he says.
Jacoway says the ideal litigator has several strong points, although he doesn’t say which of those points he believes he possesses. “Most litigators have a strong personality, are able to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a case at an early stage, can think quickly on their feet and adjust to circumstances that develop at trial, and are willing to give their clients reasonable expectations but still be a zealous advocate,” he says.
Jacoway will admit to doing his homework - another hallmark of a good litigator. Most cases are won and lost in the preparation stage, he says, where 90 percent of the work occurs. Applying this principal to construction litigation sheds an eye-opening light on how much homework a lawyer has.
“Construction litigation is incredibly labor intensive because the devil is in the details. Somebody will hire a contractor to build a house, but things don’t work out and they have legitimate claims. But there are so many details to review: What were the parameters of the original contract? What did the plans and specs call for? Were there change orders? Did those change orders comply with the terms of the contract? Did you get a quote up front? Did both parties sign the change order? Typically, no. The construction industry breeds litigation because many people do things with a handshake.
“You can be a great litigator but if you don’t do your homework, you’ll never see a successful case,” he says.
Jacoway has won multimillion dollar business cases, but the cases upon which he looks back with the most satisfaction are those in which he was able to help an individual right a wrong.
“I had a high profile case in the last year in which a relative wrongfully accused my client of child abuse. We reached a good resolution. Unfortunately, there was a cost. Even good resolutions can carry a burden,” he says.
Jacoway also mentions helping a wife whose marriage was ending in divorce obtain the support she needed. The case went to trial in Georgia, which allows jury trials in divorces.
“The husband had significant assets. The wife didn’t want to go to war, but the husband was arrogant and unwilling to provide what she needed. He asked for a jury trial because he thought he could convince the jury her request after 28 years of marriage was unreasonable. The jury gave her a million dollars in alimony. I was pleased to see good things happened to a lady that deserved it,” he says.
In spite of the positive outcomes, Jacoway hesitates before saying he’s glad he became a lawyer. As most attorneys know, the work load can be insurmountable.
“You can work six hours on a Saturday and get a lot done, but when you leave the office, you have more work to do because of what you generated getting the other work done,” he says.
Jacoway doesn’t mind the amount of work; he simply wishes the effective practice of law left more time for other things. He’s been married as long as he’s practiced law - since 1987. And he and his wife, Connie, a nurse, have two sons. Their oldest, Ben, recently graduated from UT Knoxville and found work in logistics in Orlando, Fla. Their youngest, Evan, is going to be a junior at McCallie.
Jacoway has always tried be involved in the activities in which his sons participated, whether he was helping to coach their football, baseball, or soccer teams, or skipping UT games to attend their sporting events. “That’s not easy when you bleed orange,” he says, laughing.
Historically, Jacoway has also been active in his community and profession: He has volunteered as legal counsel for the Chattanooga Jaycees and Children’s Advocacy Center; he’s a long-time member of the Brainerd Kiwanis Club, where he’s served as president; he’s served as president of the local UT Alumni Association and vice-president of the National UT Alumni Association; and he’s currently serving on the Signal Mountain Recreational Board. He’s also an active member of the Chattanooga Bar Association.
“I’ve been blessed and have an obligation to give back. Between work and family, though, I don’t do it as much as I should. Being active in the community is good, but my first responsibility is to my kids,” he says.
Jacoway has every reason to be proud of his accomplishments at home, at the office and in his community, but as he looks back on his career, he’s quicker to point out those people who enabled him to succeed. In particular, he’s grateful for his mentors, whom he holds in high esteem.
“Mentors have appeared at key moments in my life. When I was in a fraternity in college, an alumni took a particular interest in me. When I was in law school, I clerked for two circuit judges in Memphis. One of them was the former mayor of the city. They were larger than life personalities. Then after I’d been at this firm for two years, Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Ray Brock retired and became of counsel here. Having him as a mentor in law and life was incredible. He’d forgotten more law than most people knew,” Jacoway says.
Ultimately, Jacoway is pleased he became an attorney - hard work and all. He has many hours under his belt, and many more to go, but he has no regrets.
“I do work a lot, but overall, the practice of law has been rewarding and successful for me. If I had the chance to do it again, I would.”