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Michael Bobelian is an award-winning author, lawyer, and journalist whose work has covered issues ranging from legal affairs to corporate wrongdoing to human rights.  Upon graduating from the University of Michigan's Business and Law Schools, Michael worked at a Wall Street law firm before earning a Master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

As a contributing writer at Forbes.com, Michael covered the Supreme Court, legal affairs, politics, regulation, high-profile trials, and human rights. He has also written for the Washington Post
, Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, History News Network, California Lawyer magazine, Reuters, National Book Review, Time magazine, and various other publications.

Michael's first book, Children of Armenia: A Forgotten Genocide and the Century-Long Struggle for Justice, is the seminal work on the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide. Endorsed by human rights chronicler, Adam Hochschild, former California Governor George Deukmejian, and leading scholars in the field, Children of Armenia received Choice Magazine's highest rating.

Published in 2019, Battle for the Marble Palace: Abe Fortas, Earl Warren, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and the Forging of the Modern Supreme Court is a narrative account of the politicization of the Court during the 1950s and '60s and the revolution it sparked in the confirmation process. Built upon years of research at more than twenty archives and written in a compelling narrative—what the Dean of UC Davis Law School described as "an absolute ‘must read’ for Supreme Court watchers as well as political junkies, history buffs, and mystery book readers"—Battle for the Marble Palace uncovers the true origins of the messy confirmation fights the nation has endured in recent years.

In 2020, Battle for the Marble Palace was named an Honorable Mention by the American Society of Journalists and Authors in the Biography/History book award category.
 
Michael’s media appearances include C-Span’s BookTV, SKY News (UK), NPR's Leonard Lopate Show, NPR's Word of Mouth, NPR's Morning Edition, the Behind the Pages television show in Boston, Bill Handel's show on KFI 640AM in Los Angeles, John Rothmann's show on KGO 810AM in San Francisco, WSOU in New Jersey, KUCI in Irvine, and Newstalk 106-108 in Ireland. Michael has served as a consultant for PBS's "Finding Your Roots" and was an expert commentator Emmy nominated documentary, Intent to Destroy.
 
The Columbia Journalism School selected Michael’s feature story, "Vartkes's List," as one of the school’s "100 Great Stories" in celebration of its centennial. Michael has also received a Congressional Research Grant from the Dirksen Congressional Center, and grants from the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress and The Nation Institute Investigative Fund. He contributed to the December 2006 issue of American Lawyer magazine, which won a Neal Award for the best single issue of a magazine. He has been a Wertheim Scholar, Allen Scholar, and a Researcher-In-Residence at the Shoichi Noma Reading Room at the New York Public Library. In 2018, Michael was an Archival Fellow at the Robert J. Dole Institute.

Over the past decade, Michael has taught narrative writing, media law and ethics, and economic reporting at Baruch College, where he was twice nominated for a teaching award.  He has also taught various journalism courses at the Columbia School of Journalism.


Michael is a member of the Authors Guild, the National Book Critics Circle, and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

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