Jed S. Rakoff

Jed S. Rakoff
Name	Jed S. Rakoff
Birth date	December 12, 1943
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Judge, legal scholar, author
Alma mater	Harvard College, Yale Law School
Known for	Federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Jed S. Rakoff is a senior United States district judge who has served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He is noted for high-profile decisions, outspoken commentary on criminal justice policy, and writings on securities litigation, civil procedure, and administrative law. Rakoff's career spans private practice, federal prosecution, academia, and a long tenure on the federal bench.

Early life and education

Rakoff was born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn. He attended Harvard College, where he studied under faculty associated with John Rawls-era discussions and contemporaries who went on to careers in American politics, journalism, and law. After Harvard, he attended Yale Law School, where he served on the Yale Law Journal alongside classmates who entered practice at firms such as Dewey Ballantine and Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He clerked for judges connected to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and engaged with scholars from Columbia Law School and NYU School of Law during his formative legal training.

Legal career and private practice

Rakoff began his career in private practice at firms active on Wall Street and took roles in federal prosecution with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. He litigated securities cases involving entities like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Enron-era counterparts and participated in prosecutions touching on matters linked to Securities and Exchange Commission investigations and Department of Justice enforcement actions. His private practice connected him with partners from firms such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Rakoff also worked with attorneys who later served in administrations of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

Federal judicial service

Appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton, Rakoff joined the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, a court known for high-profile matters involving institutions like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Deutsche Bank. During his tenure he presided over cases connected to federal statutes such as the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, and the False Claims Act. The Southern District's docket frequently overlapped with matters from agencies including the Federal Reserve, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service.

Notable rulings and jurisprudence

Rakoff authored opinions in cases involving major financial institutions like Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, and UBS, often engaging with doctrines developed by the United States Supreme Court in decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education-era jurisprudence and modern precedents from justices like Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He scrutinized deferred prosecution agreements involving the Department of Justice and publicly criticized settlements with entities such as Countrywide Financial and firms implicated in the 2008 financial crisis. Rakoff's rulings have touched on Fourth Amendment issues influenced by cases like Katz v. United States, First Amendment disputes echoing New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, and administrative law questions referencing Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc..

In high-profile criminal matters, he confronted sentencing issues under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and engaged with prosecutors from the Southern District of New York including figures who later moved to the United States Attorney General's office. His civil opinions addressed class action certification standards related to precedents from the Class Action Fairness Act era and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rakoff has been both affirmed and reversed on appeal by panels of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Publications, lectures, and public commentary

Rakoff has published essays and articles in venues such as the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, and the Columbia Law Review, and contributed commentary to outlets including the New York Review of Books, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He has lectured at law schools like Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, NYU School of Law, Stanford Law School, and University of Chicago Law School on topics ranging from securities regulation to judicial ethics. His public speeches engaged audiences at institutions such as the American Bar Association, the Federalist Society, and the Brookings Institution, and he participated in panels with scholars from Georgetown University Law Center and UC Berkeley School of Law.

Rakoff's commentary critiqued policy choices by administrations including those of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, and addressed reforms promoted by organizations like Public Citizen, Transparency International, and the Brennan Center for Justice.

Personal life and honors

Rakoff has been recognized with honors from institutions such as The New York Bar Association, American Law Institute, and universities including Harvard University and Yale University. He has family ties to New York cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and philanthropic organizations like the Ford Foundation. Rakoff's peers include judges who served on the United States Supreme Court and appellate courts, and colleagues from academic centers like the Institute for Advanced Study and think tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations.

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Category:Harvard College alumni Category:Yale Law School alumni