He was admitted to the Chester County Bar in August of 1779.1568 He was listed in the 1785 Philadelphia Directory2327 as a counsellor at law, with an address about a mile and a half away from the Gloria Dei Old Swedes Episcopal Church. The 1790 census2340 shows him on Front Street, head of a household with three males over 16 and three females over 16. In 1796, the Philadelphia Directory870 shows Andrew Bedford Bankson, MD and Jacob Bankson, Attorney at Law both at 287 South Front Street.

His wife Elizabeth and his son Andrew B. were administrators for his probate estate.2341 His personal property included a considerable inventory of law books. It is curious that as a lawyer he died intestate, but understandable given his death at a relatively young age. Indeed, he himself was named as executor for his brother Benjamin’s estate a few months before Jacob’s death.2342