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Author: William A. Jacobson

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William A. Jacobson

William A. Jacobson is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Securities Law Clinic at Cornell Law School.

He is a 1981 graduate of Hamilton College and a 1984 graduate of Harvard Law School. At Harvard he was Senior Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal and Director of Litigation for the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project.

Prior to joining the Cornell law faculty in 2007, Professor Jacobson had a highly successful civil litigation and arbitration practice in Providence, Rhode Island, concentrating in investment, employment, and business disputes in the securities industry, including many high profile cases reported in leading newspapers and magazines.

Professor Jacobson has argued cases in numerous federal and state courts, including the Courts of Appeal for the First, Fifth and Sixth Circuits, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

Professor Jacobson has a national reputation as a leading practitioner in securities arbitration. He was Treasurer, and is a former member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, a professional organization of attorneys dedicated to protecting public investors. He frequently is quoted in national media on issues related to investment fraud and investor protection, and in the past has served as one of a small number of private practice attorneys who trained new arbitrators for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Professor Jacobson is co-author of the Securities Arbitration Desk Reference (Thomson-Reuters), updated annually.

Professor Jacobson is frequently quoted in the media on political and legal topics, has authored many Op-Eds in major publications, and appears on television and radio to discuss politics and the law.

A more complete listing of Professor Jacobson's professional background is available at the Cornell Law School website. The views expressed here are his own and not those of any employer or organization,

The best way to reach Prof. Jacobson is by e-mail here.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 22, 2011 22 Comments

Via HotAir, Mitt Romney has scored two significant conservative endorsements recently, Jeff Flake and Darrel Issa.  While that may not constitute a coalescing around Romney, it does help insulate him from RINO charges.  Whatever he once was, is he now the conservative who can win? What's up...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 22, 2011 7 Comments

Name withheld for a reason which will become obvious. From reader "Joe": I just returned from a road trip from SD to VA for my mother's funeral. As I drove down the WV Turnpike I snapped this pic of a billboard. I'd seen it before on a previous...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 21, 2011 25 Comments

Why the Palestinians thought that a diplomatic confrontation with the U.S. was the way to go is inexplicable.  Once again, they overplayed their hand. Did they really buy into Obama's rhetoric from 2009 in Cairo, or earlier this year about the Arab Spring?  In part, a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 21, 2011 65 Comments

Not able to get to posting this afternoon, so tell me what's on your minds. (Maybe, what do you think about bloggers from other blogs trolling the comment section here?  Just a hypo, no one particular in mind.)...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 21, 2011 13 Comments

Obama gave a good speech today at the U.N. on the Israel-Palestinian conflict: President Barack Obama told a meeting  of the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday that Mideast peace “will  not come through statements and resolutions” by the world body, arguing against  a proposed resolution calling...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 21, 2011 4 Comments

It's all about the natural gas and Erdogan's ego: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described offshore gas drilling by estranged ally Israel and Cyprus as "madness" on Wednesday, raising the stakes in a confrontation over potentially huge deposits in the eastern Mediterranean...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 21, 2011 19 Comments

Thanks to reader Heather, who writes: Seen on a parked Prius in Sister Bay, WI Oh, the comments I could make! In a follow up e-mail, Heather wrote: In forgot to tell you; on the other side of the bumper was the obligatory "coexist" bumper sticker! Comments, why comments about...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 20, 2011 76 Comments

I haven't posted about the Twitter and blog war which broke out over a clip of Mike Tyson trash talking Sarah Palin in very explicit and violent sexual ways, although I did spotlight Dan Riehl's post about it as Post of the Day. The controversy is...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 20, 2011 17 Comments

I gave a talk last night at the Cornell Club of New York City in Manhattan.  The topic was the Tea Party Movement, and the thesis was: Professor Jacobson will argue that the Tea Party movement has been among the most influential and most positive forces...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 20, 2011 6 Comments

Thanks to reader Megan, who took this photo a few days agao in Pigeon Forge, TN: ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 19, 2011 18 Comments

BlueCheddar is a Wisconsin "progressive" website that posted a video confession by an anti-Republican stalker who poured beer over a Republican legislator. The stalker has been charged with disorderly conduct, but the conduct potentially was a felony battery under Wisconsin Statutes 940.20(4): (4) Battery to public officers. Whoever intentionally causes...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 19, 2011 3 Comments

Thanks to reader Danelle who writes: We took this one this afternoon in Wise County, just west of Dallas.  Wise County is one of Texas' hard hit counties from both drought and wildfire, the most recent being last week.  Many ranchers in the area are hard put...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 18, 2011 32 Comments

Five days ago Obama unveiled a "jobs plan" which included tax hikes of $467 billion, $400 billion of which were on individuals making $200,000 (and couples making $250,000). Tomorrow Obama will unveil a "deficit reduction plan" which will include $1.5 trillion in new taxes including an extra tax...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 18, 2011 13 Comments

Steve Chapman, a member of the Editorial Board of The Chicago Tribune, Why Obama should withdraw (h/t HeyTammyBruce): When Ronald Reagan ran for re-election in 1984, his slogan was "Morning in America." For Barack Obama, it's more like midnight in a coal mine. The sputtering economy is about...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 18, 2011 11 Comments

This seems like pretty good advice to the GOP, although the pathetic political ploy needs to be called for what it is (as I did last night): Update:  Time for an invervention, Obama’s on a tax hike bender...

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