[1][2] In 1992, President George H. W. Bush nominated Jacobs to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, vacated by Judge Wilfred Feinberg.
In 2021, the Chief Justice appointed Jacobs to the Committee on Codes of Conduct, which has jurisdiction to provide advice regarding the application of the Codes of Conduct for United States Judges, Judicial Employees, and Federal Public Defender Employees, as well as Judicial Conference regulations including the Regulations on Gifts.
The committee provides confidential advice to federal judges and judicial employees regarding compliance with their ethical obligations and publishes advisory opinions to assist in the interpretation of the Codes and regulations.
In 2006, Jacobs delivered a speech entitled "The Secret Life Of Judges" as the 2006 John F. Sonnett Memorial Lecture at Fordham University School of Law.
[5] The subsequently published manuscript won a Green Bag Award for exemplary legal writing in the short article category.