It's difficult to quantify the value of the help we offer to our clients. Yes, of course, one measure is the size of our verdicts and settlements - over $7 billion at last count. But how do you quantify the value of simply being there to offer comfort, support, and encouragement to someone who is dying of mesothelioma or one of the other asbestos cancers?Erik Jacobs joined Weitz & Luxenberg in 1997 and is an associate attorney in our Asbestos Litigation group. A practicing attorney since 1993, he is admitted to the bar of the State of New York.Mr. Jacobs studied the law at New York Law School, which conferred upon him a juris doctor degree in 1992. Earlier, in 1985, he earned a master's degree in international and public affairs from Columbia University and, four years prior to that, the New York native received a bachelor of arts degree from Columbia College.