Nationality American Years active 1977-present | Occupation Lawyer Organization founded Jackson & MacNichol | |
Alma mater Bowdoin College, University of Maine School of Law Notable work Protect and Defend, Social Security Disability Law, A reference for New England Disability Claims Books Social Security Disability Law: A Reference for New England Disability Claims Education University of Maine School of Law (1977), Bowdoin College (1974) | ||
Francis M. Jackson is an attorney with a career based on obtaining justice for those who are injured or disabled. He has practiced law since 1977 and is a founding partner in the law firm of Jackson & MacNichol. His firm, Jackson & MacNichol, has represented thousands of people seeking justice on their claims for disability benefits or for personal injuries or the wrongful death of someone close to them and has obtained millions of dollars in benefits or injury awards.
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Early life
Jackson lived in several states as a child, including Tennessee, Connecticut, New York and Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College, where he was a James Bowdoin Scholar, graduating summa cum laude. He attended the University of Maine School of Law where he served on the editorial board of the law review and on the national moot court team and was on the Dean's list. He was chosen for a prestigious internship with the Mental Health Law Project (now the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law) sponsored by the Ford Foundation in his final semester of Law School.
Career
Jackson has practiced law since 1977. He has twice been the recipient of the pro bono award from the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project for his work in helping people who could not afford to hire a lawyer for their legal problems and was presented with the award by Maine's Chief Justice.
He was among the first attorneys in the nation to represent veterans. He was one of the handful of lawyers at the 1993 founding meeting of the National Organization of Veterans Advocates (NOVA) of which he is a member. Jackson is the secretary of the Maine State Bar Association Veterans Law Section. He has presented at continuing legal education programs sponsored by the bar association to teach lawyers about veterans law. He has participated in free legal clinics for veterans to review their claims and advise them of their rights regarding veterans benefits. He has also presented on veterans law for Maine's libraries. He has handled hundreds of veterans cases at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as well as representing veterans in hearings before local VA hearing offices and before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals all across the country. One of his most important cases was Moody v. Principi, 357 F.3d 1370 (Fed. Cir. 2004), establishing that the VA must give full consideration to claims filed by veterans not represented by an attorney. He is a regular contributor on the Bert Martinez blog talk radio show, Money For Lunch, where he discusses the issues that affect veterans benefits for millions of America's veterans.
Jackson is admitted to practice before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, the Court of Appeals for the Federal circuit, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court as well as the United States District Court.
Jackson has also represented hundreds of people applying for disability benefits from the Social Security administration. He is a sustaining member of the National Organization of Social Security Representatives. He has presented hundreds of social security appeals in the federal district and circuit courts, from Maine to Pennsylvania, winning numerous cases. He won an important case, Ainsworth v. SSA, in the United States District court in New Hampshire, prohibiting the use of telephone testimony by experts in Social Security disability cases. He recently won Jenkins v. Colvin, a Maine case establishing that Social Security judges cannot ignore or overrule vocational testimony favorable to the claimant and Maniscalco v. Colvin, in Massachusetts, establishing that vocational expert testimony must be based upon the actual experience of the vocational witness. He is a joint presenter of annual seminars for other attorneys regarding social security matters.
Before limiting his practice to injury and disability work, Mr. Jackson won a landmark case, State v. Anaya, in which he was the first attorney in Maine ever to win a murder case based on the battered woman defense. He also won severance benefits for an entire class of employees who were terminated by Schlumberger Technologies in Bellino v. Schlumberger, 944 F.2d 26 (1st Cir. 1991).
In September 2012, he was presented with a Quilly award by the National Academy of Best Selling Authors for his contribution as a joint author of the Amazon best seller, Protect and Defend, where he wrote about protecting and defending ones rights to disability compensation from the VA.
He has been seen on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox TV network affiliates around the country, is listed in Cambridge Who's Who and has been quoted in USA Today.
Jackson is a joint author of Protect and Defend, Celebrity Press, 2012. He is also the author of Social Security Disability Law, A reference for New England Disability Claims, Speaker Media Press, 2013. He is currently writing a book on veterans compensation and pension benefits.