Veteran public-sector and complex litigation leader brings four decades of experience to the nationally-renowned plaintiffs’ law firm
San Francisco, CA, January 7, 2026—(BUSINESSWIRE) — Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein is delighted to announce that Matthew G. Jacobs, former General Counsel of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”), has joined the firm’s San Francisco office as Of Counsel.
Mr. Jacobs brings more than 40 years of experience in complex litigation, crisis management, government investigations, and public-sector leadership. Most recently, he served as the General Counsel of CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund, with more than $550 billion in assets under management. As a member of the CalPERS executive leadership team, Mr. Jacobs oversaw the organization’s legal, compliance and risk, and information security functions, and managed both its affirmative and defensive litigation.
During his tenure, CalPERS recovered over $1 billion for its beneficiaries from financial institutions and rating agencies responsible for mortgage-backed securities fraud. He also oversaw some of the nation’s largest and most consequential securities fraud class actions in CalPERS’s capacity as lead plaintiff. That work helped strengthen investor protections, enhance corporate accountability, and safeguard investments for millions of public employees and other investors.
Prior to joining CalPERS, Mr. Jacobs was a litigation partner at DLA Piper LLP, where he co-chaired the White Collar and Government Investigations Practice Group. Before that, he held senior roles in both private practice and public service, including at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. At the U.S. Attorney’s office, he served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division.
Mr. Jacobs is a frequent speaker and author on corporate governance, fiduciary responsibility, and institutional investor issues. He has served on the boards of the Council of Institutional Investors and the National Association of Corporate Directors, Northern California Chapter, and on the steering committee for the Cambridge Forum’s Committee for International Forum for General Counsel–Asset Owners. Mr. Jacobs also serves on the executive committee of WEAVE, a rape crisis center in Sacramento County, and on the executive committee of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, which facilitates and enhances philanthropy in the greater Sacramento area.
“We are excited to have a lawyer of Matt’s caliber and reputation joining our team,” noted Lieff Cabraser Managing Partner Steven E. Fineman. “Matt brings a wealth of experience championing, protecting, and maintaining fund integrity and assets, which will serve our firm’s institutional investor clients exceedingly well.”
“I’m thrilled to be joining Lieff Cabraser in its mission to pursue justice for victims of corporate misconduct,” Mr. Jacobs shared. “That commitment is what drew me to the law, and no one does it better than LCHB. I could not imagine a better next chapter.”
Mr. Jacobs earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.S., cum laude, from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and serves as a Judge Pro Tem in Sacramento Superior Court.
Source/Contact
Steven E. Fineman
Managing Partner
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
(212) 355-9500
www.lieffcabraser.com
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