Who is Bruce Jacob from Gideon's Trumpet and what is their importance?

Jacob is the Florida Attorney assigned to argue the case on Florida's behalf. It's noted that in a typical case, the prosecution has the upper hand because the prosecutor's office has a full staff of attorneys with the time and manpower to put their case on a firm footing. In this case, the defendant - Gideon - had a major law firm willing to expend hundreds of hours and experienced lawyers to determine the best way to argue the case. Jacob had never been inside the Supreme Court and was spending nights and weekends preparing his case with the help of a single person to type it - also on her own time. Jacob believes he should contact other states to warn them of the Gideon case because the ruling would impact criminal courts in all states.