[1][2] After graduating from law school in 1985, Jackson took a job as a general attorney for the Los Angeles office of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.

[1] From 2002 until 2010, Jackson worked as a partner for Liskow & Lewis, a law firm with offices in New Orleans, Lafayette, and Houston.

Soon afterward, Landrieu formally recommended that President Barack Obama nominate Jackson to the seat.

On October 29, 2009, Obama formally nominated Jackson to fill the vacancy, which was created when Judge Frank Joseph Polozola took senior status in 2007.

[1] Jackson's nomination was delayed for months due to a dispute between Landrieu and fellow United States Senator David Vitter, but eventually Vitter approved of the nomination and a hearing was held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.