Michael Alan Jacobson

Michael Alan Jacobson

4.0
Rating: 6.9

Licensed for 42 years

Immigration Lawyer at Seattle, WA
Practice Areas: Immigration, Contracts & Agreements, Employment & Labor ... +2 more

705 2nd Avenue Suite 1050, Seattle, WA

About Michael

Biography

Practice Areas

5

Practice Areas

Immigration 30%

Business Immigration Compliance(Investor Immigration E-2 Visas, Employment Immigration L-1A/B, TN Trade NAFTA Professionals, specializing in Scientific Technicians, Management Consultants, and more); Family Immigration and Fiancé and marriage Visas, Petitions for Relatives, Green Cards; also, inadmissibility issues, deportation, wrongful removal, Nexus appeals.

30%
Contracts and Agreements 20%

Including violations of Employee Handbook: Promises of specific treatment under specified circumstances, which are circulated to employees in a suitably official form. (Examples: check your employee handbook or supervisors' manual subsections titled "Grievances," "Discipline," "Termination," "Employee rights and responsibilities" and "Last Chance Memos.")

20%
Employment and Labor 20%

Private sector wage enforcement; federal sector employee tenure; OPM disability retirement; MSPB; EEOC; public sector state, local, college and school district employee tenure; private and public sector law against discrimination; private sector pension & severance; whistleblower.

20%

Fees and Rates

We have not found any cost information for this lawyer


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Licenses

Licensed in Arizona for 12 years

State: Arizona

Acquired: 2014

Active

No misconduct found

Licensed in Alaska for 41 years

State: Alaska

Acquired: 1984

Active

No misconduct found

Licensed in Washington for 42 years

State: Washington

Acquired: 1983

Active

No misconduct found

Location

MA Jacobson, P.S., Inc.

705 2nd Avenue Suite 1050, Seattle, WA, 98104-3450

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Michael Alan Jacobson's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

4.0 /5.0

10 Client Reviews

Filter Avvo Reviews (10) Refine reviews to match your needs. Use the filters to quickly surface reviews that align with your case or priorities.

Showing 1 - 4 of 4 reviews | Practice Area Knowledge

Posted by Cody | August 08, 2025 | Employment & Labor

Legally Inaccurate, Dismissive, and Potentially Biased

I was unfortunately referred to Michael Jacobson through the King County Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service regarding a serious employment discrimination and retaliation matter. After briefly reviewing my case, Mr. Jacobson dismissed it entirely by sending me a form-style letter citing “at-wil...l employment” as if it were an absolute defense. This was legally inaccurate, as Washington’s at-will doctrine has multiple statutory and public policy exceptions that my case clearly implicates, including discrimination, failure to reinstate from FMLA, and retaliation for engaging in protected activity. Mr. Jacobson did not meaningfully review the facts, ask follow-up questions, or acknowledge the extensive evidence I provided. The response failed to address the actual legal issues and instead relied on a grossly oversimplified and misleading explanation of the law. I expected an attorney to provide an honest, competent evaluation, not to close my file based on a misinterpretation of the law. Furthermore, if Mr. Jacobson’s interpretation were hypothetically correct, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would not have issued me a Right-to-Sue letter on May 14, 2025, which they did, confirming the matter does, in fact, warrant judicial review. When I reported this to the King County Bar Association, they issued an apology in writing, further affirming that my case was blatantly mishandled by Mr. Jacobson. As a transgender plaintiff in a case involving discrimination, I cannot rule out the possibility that bias, whether conscious or unconscious, influenced the lack of diligence and seriousness with which my matter was handled. While I hope that is not the case, the complete disregard for the substance of my claims leaves me questioning whether my identity played a role in the dismissiveness I experienced. Deductively, we can infer that this attorney is either incompetent or dishonest - neither of which are desirable qualities in an attorney. I would not recommend him to anyone seeking informed, diligent, or good-faith representation in employment law matters.

Posted by Joshua | February 11, 2020 | Hired Attorney | Immigration

Best Attorney

I am writing this review to hopefully help someone else that is looking for a great attorney. I was looking for a lawyer for my citizenship application and had talked to a few layers but they juts wanted to talk about how much they would charge for my case after I told them my situation. I was getti...ng frustrated and then an attorney recommended Micheal Jacobson. I called him the same day and set up a consultation. He was very upfront and really cared about my case and from there in it has been a pleasure and honor working with Michael, he did a colossal work with high integrity and has been very patient with me even though it has taken a couple years for my case to finish. Give Michael a call first

Posted by Randy | February 10, 2017 | Hired Attorney | Discrimination

Very happy with Mike's help resolving a discrimination issue

I recently had to deal with a discrimination issue based on a chronic health situation. I interviewed 3 different lawyers and 2 of them responded with unclear advice and were unsure how to proceed. Mike knew exactly how to handle the situation, was able to leverage his many years of experience to of...fer up a solution I hadn't considered, and accurately predicted how my former employer would respond. The end result was I got exactly what I was hoping for and now have closure to the whole situation and can move past this stressful experience. Mike is super sharp, has many years of experience, and is very easy to work with. I highly recommend him for any employment related issues.

Posted by Judith | October 13, 2010 | Workers Compensation

Help with a L&I denial

Michael Jacobson won an L&I denial for me. He was upfront and very knowledgeable about what was needed to affect a positive outcome for me. He knew just what information he needed to obtain from the doctors I had seen and didn't waste time with issues that were not pertinent to the case. The case ...was with the State of Alaska and Mr. Jacobson is familiar with their L&I laws. We didn't even have to go to court as the information Mr. Jacobson presented was enough for a settlement in my favor.

See All Client Reviews

Michael Alan Jacobson's Lawyer Endorsements

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Experience

Rating:  6.9 (Good)

Honors

2017

Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

1999

Highest remittance to LRS for successful ct. of appeals judgment, King County Lawyer Referral Service

Work Experience

2004 - Present

President, MA Jacobson, P.S., Inc.

1986 - 2003

Litigation Attorney, Mike Jacobson Law

1982 - 1985

Managing Partner, Waskey Properties Limited Partners, LP

Associations

Washington Employment Lawyers Association

American Immigration Lawyers Association

Washington State Association for Justice

Sample of Legal Cases

Snohomish Co. Case No. 04-2-06486

$425,000 award distributed among class action members

Dewey v. Seattle School District No. 1

$343,000 judgment

Bohon v. Arco

Judgment against defendant determining disability discrimination

Hahn v. Yale

Partial reversal in favor of client, Rule 68 judgment, and legal fees paid by defendant

In Re: Extraordinary Removal at the Northern Border

L-1 authorization renewed and Extraordinary Removal cancelled

Snohomish Co. Case No. 03-2-10084-4

$42,210.31 awarded to clients in arbitration

Washington Court of Appeals Division 1 Docket No. 58478-2-I

Reversed dismissal of client's claim and remanded for trial

See More Legal Cases

Education

1982

Lewis & Clark Northwestern Law School

JD - Juris Doctor

1978

University of Rocherster (NY)

Bachelor of Arts

Speaking Engagements

2010

Qualifying your Canadian company to transact business in the USA

B visas; L Transferees; and NAFTA professionals

Publications

2008

Washington Court of Appeals Prevailing Counsel - Rosen v Pacquing Docket No 58478-2-1 - Decision Reversing and Remanding for Trial

N/A

Washington Court of Appeals Prevailing Counsel - Hahn v Yale Co. Docket No. 37839-2-I - Reversal in Part

Languages

English

Spanish

Activity

Avvo Rating

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  • Experience & background Years licensed, work experience, education
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