San Diego, CA – Jeffrey Isaacs’ first and only job after graduating from law school in 1968 was with Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP. At the time, Procopio was only about ten lawyers, which was then a mid-sized firm by San Diego standards. And, notwithstanding the firm’s enormous growth to its present size of about 150 lawyers, Jeff never could find anything even close to a good reason to leave. “I had the opportunity to practice during the golden era of the law working closely with iconic lawyers such as Alec Cory and Manny Savitch – frankly, I had no idea what I was getting into,” said Jeff. “I know that by current standards I am a bit of a dinosaur staying at one firm my entire career but I can happily live with that given the amazing experiences I enjoyed at Procopio,” Jeff added.

In addition to Jeff’s busy practice at Procopio where he was head of the firm’s insolvency group for decades, he was and continues to be involved in a myriad of bar and community service activities, including serving on the boards of directors of the San Diego County Bar Association, the San Diego County Bar Foundation, the San Diego Bankruptcy Forum and the California Metabolic Research Foundation. Jeff is proudest, however, of his involvement with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program (known as SDVLP), where he served as president for over three years and currently serves on the executive committee. “SDVLP is a genius program that does more with less than seems possible,” said Jeff. “With a staff of only about 25 employees and a budget of only about $1.7 million annually, SDVLP represents approximately 6,000 San Diego County residents a year. This is largely done with effort volunteered by lawyers (many of whom come from the largest and most prominent firms in the county), law students and others who are more than compensated by the satisfaction they receive knowing that they were involved in helping folks who could not have otherwise helped themselves,” added Jeff. In addition, Jeff was also somewhat recently elected to the board of trustees of California Western School of Law, where he currently serves.

“Jeff was an integral part of the early Procopio lore. Along the way, Jeff developed a reputation as one of the very top bankruptcy attorneys in the region. He also made huge extra-legal contributions, most notably in the significant role he has played with SDVLP,” said Procopio’s managing partner, Tom Turner. “We will miss his wry grin and sharp, dry wit. Our sincere congratulations to Jeff for a truly remarkable legal career with our immense thanks for so many decades of both exceptional work and loyalty to the firm and our very best wishes for a healthy, happy and rewarding retirement!”

Although Jeff is retiring from the practice of law, his post-lawyering plans include little relaxation. Rather, he has taken on the role of a mediator and arbitrator with West Coast Resolution Group, a division of the National Conflict Resolution Center and intends to redouble his effort in his community service commitments. Jeff is eagerly looking forward to this next chapter.