Melanie B. Jacobs
Associate Professor of Law
416 Law College Building
Michigan State University College of Law
East Lansing, MI 48824-1300
517/432-6944
mjacobs@law.msu.edu
Degrees: LL.M. 2002, Temple University School of Law; J.D. 1994, Boston University School of Law; A.B. 1991, Columbia University
Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
Biography: Professor Jacobs joined the MSU College of Law faculty in 2002 and teaches Family Law: Child, Parent & the State; Decedents’ Estates and Trusts; Property; and a seminar in Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the Law.
In October 2008, she was a guest lecturer at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. For the 2006-07 year, Professor Jacobs was awarded a Michigan State University Lilly Teaching Fellowship. During the Fall 2004 semester, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the William & Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law, where she taught Family Law and Property.
Previously, Professor Jacobs served as a Freedman Fellow and a lecturer in law at Temple University School of Law. Her additional teaching experience includes two years as a clinical instructor for the Hale & Dorr Legal Services Center at Harvard Law School and as an adjunct instructor at the Boston University School of Law. While in the Boston area, Professor Jacobs also engaged in private practice with the firm of Witmer, Karp, Warner & Thuotte and served as counsel to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division.
Professor Jacobs has written articles and given numerous national and international presentations regarding the need to establish legal recognition for nontraditional families. She has argued in favor of preserving nonbiological parental relationships to foster the best interests of children and her current research and scholarship focuses on moving beyond biological bases of parental determination and recognizing multiple parents.
Professor Jacobs received her A.B. from Columbia College in New York City and her J.D. from Boston University. She is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.