Ronald Jacobs serves as co-chair of Venable’s Political Law Group and as hiring partner in the firm's Washington, DC office. He advises clients on all aspects of state and federal political law, including campaign finance, lobbying disclosure, gift and ethics rules, pay-to-play laws, and tax implications of political activities. Mr. Jacobs also assists clients with crises response to government investigations and enforcement actions, Congressional investigations, class-action law suits, and other high-profile problems that involve potentially damaging legal and public-relations matters. Along with Lawrence Norton, he co-edits the firm’s Political Law Briefing blog.

Mr. Jacobs understands the often-contradictory rules imposed by the different laws that apply to political activities. He offers practical advice that considers not only the legal requirements, but also the reputational risk, of political activity to a broad range of clients, including large and small companies, trade associations, ideological groups, individuals, and political vendors. He has developed political compliance programs for Fortune 500 companies and other clients that lobby and make political contributions nationwide.

In addition to counseling clients on political law matters, Mr. Jacobs has extensive experience in the administrative rulemaking process and in litigating challenges to agency decisions in federal court. He has represented clients in administrative matters before the Federal Election Commission, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Congress, and in federal court.

Mr. Jacobs has also counseled and defended clients in a host of other regulatory matters, including disputes involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and privacy and data security issues.

Significant Matters
Some of Mr. Jacobs’s significant matters have included:

Successfully defending a large, nationally-known trade association during a Congressional investigation into allegations of fraudulent grassroots lobbying activity.
Representing a campaign finance reporting company through an FBI investigation of a former business partner accused of campaign fraud, ultimately convincing the government to return assets that had been wrongly seized from the company.
Assisting a large social welfare organization with multiple Congressional investigations and several class action lawsuits.
Successfully petitioning the FEC to reverse a long-standing rule to allow trade associations to use payroll deduction for their PAC activities.
Assisting a company in fending off government investigations and rebuilding its reputation following problems with a school program to attend the 2009 presidential inauguration.
In a pro bono matter, convincing the DC Court of Appeals to establish new procedural protections for child custody cases similar to those used in many other states.
Successfully litigating a Hatch Act case before the Merit Systems Protection Board involving a school district’s ability to re-hire a teacher previously dismissed for campaigning for public office.
Reversing a decision by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to revoke a language school’s accreditation.

Activities
Mr. Jacobs is a frequent speaker and author on campaign finance and lobbying regulation issues. He serves on the board of the Human Rights Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving democracy and protecting human rights in the Americas.