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John V. Jacobi, Disability and Mental Health Law Expert, Joins Solomon Center

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Disability and mental health law expert John V. Jacobi will join the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School as visiting professor of law and distinguished scholar in disability law this fall. Jacobi will teach a disability law course at Yale Law School.

Jacobi is the Dorothea Dix Professor of Health Law and Policy at Seton Hall Law School, an adjunct professor at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and at NYU Law School, and a visiting professor of health law at Columbia Law School.

John Jacobi smiles to the camera.
John V. Jacobi

Jacobi has published widely in the areas of mental health law, disability law, health finance, and health equity. He has also been the principal investigator on many grant-funded projects, on subjects ranging from behavioral health integration to mental health parity, health insurance reform, and supportive housing.

In addition to his academic work, Jacobi is a public servant. As assistant to the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate, he addressed HIV and gender discrimination in health access. He was also counsel to the governor of New Jersey on matters including health, human services, child welfare, and insurance. Jacobi has also served on various government advisory panels relating to mental health and health care access.

Jacobi’s fall 2025 course will add to the Solomon Center’s rich array of disability law programming, which includes several past Yale Law School courses, numerous high-profile events, and impactful scholarship by its research fellows, affiliated faculty members, and students.

The Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School is the first of its kind to focus on the intersection of law and the governance, practice, and business of health care. The Center brings together leading experts and practitioners from the public and private sectors to address cutting-edge questions of health law and policy, and to train the next generation of top health lawyers, industry leaders, policymakers, and academics.