Jacobson goes above, beyond for colleagues at Husch Blackwell

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Sandy Jacobson’s mantra is simple: She tries to make things easier for people.

A self-described people person, Jacobson joined Husch Blackwell’s Madison office as a receptionist in 2017. She found she was good at welcoming clients of the firm and putting them at ease.

But when the pandemic hit, work procedures at the firm changed almost overnight. Many of the lawyers and staff began working from home. At first, Jacobson was doing the same. But just a couple of weeks into the pandemic, she volunteered to come in and help keep the office running.

Initially, she worked from the office for three or four hours a day.

Then, “I thought, ‘I might as well just stay in the office,’” she said. “I kind of ruled the roost. People relied on me to do the things that they needed done, and I really liked that.”

Jacobson also took on projects that went beyond the duties laid out in her job description and worked to bring in various new technologies. She jumped into a project to bring Husch Blackwell’s interactions system – a clearinghouse for client information – up to date.

She helped the firm’s event-planning team with various tasks. She’s also worked with a cheese shop in Madison to provide gifts to lawyers and clients.

Jacobson said it was rewarding to help everyone adapt to the new working conditions.

“My philosophy is to try to make things easier for other people,” she said. “So when somebody asks me to do something, I do it, and I try to think what else can I do to make this easier for them.”