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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 14, 2011 14 Comments

When I dubbed the nascent Solyndra scandal "Teapot Solyndra" in memory of the Teapot Dome Scandal, I worried that I might be getting ahead of myself. But with this administration, it's hard to get ahead of oneself.  Fearing the worst usually is the safest bet. And that worst fear seems...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2011 18 Comments

What a night.  Two big wins in NY-09 and NV-02. Quote of the night: “It’s a very difficult district for Democrats,” said Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, noting its Democratic margins there tend to be the second lowest of all the districts in New...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2011 14 Comments

Judge Christopher C. Conner of the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania has stricken the Obamacare mandatge in a Memorandum and Order issued today (h/t Fuzzy via Gateway Pundit), as reported by Bloomberg: The insurance-buying mandate in President Barack Obama’s health-care reform legislation is...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2011 45 Comments

If you want a good measure of how deeply the collective bargaining bill in Wisconsin has disrupted public sector unions, there is no better example than the Wisconsins Education Association Council (WEAC). Last month WEAC announced that it was laying off 40% of its staff.  With...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2011 22 Comments

Newt Gingrich has found his voice in the recent two debates.  He has been the most forceful and articulate voice lancing Obama and everything Obama stands for. Sure, Newt has the "baggage" but he is rising? ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2011 1 Comment

Received this note and photo from reader Tom in Colorado: I saw this morning's post of the "Annoy a Liberal" bumper sticker spotted by Linda in Tennessee. She beat me to it! I saw this one (attached) on the way home just yesterday. It's a variant...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2011 55 Comments

Will not be "live blogging" it, but will have some observations. Feel free to comment. At the 8:30 break:  Great line by Newt, Obama scares seniors every day.  He made a strong substantive point, which is that why should be have to live in a system where...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2011 14 Comments

The Great Jobs Plan of 2011 is nothing more that The Great Tax Increase of 2011. He's completely incorrigible, the Rain Man of class warfare and tax increases on job creators: White House Office of Management and Budget  Director Jack Lew outlined President Barack Obama's plan to...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2011 8 Comments

This strikes me as more significant than Pawlenty for Romney, because it represents the future of the Republican Party coming out for Perry, whereas Pawlenty in many ways represented the past.  Via CNN: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is backing Rick Perry for president, a major endorsement...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2011 16 Comments

I've been spitting into the wind on this issue since days before the 2008 election. Rather than strengthening social security as a pay-in retirement protection program, Obama consistently has sought to destroy social security as we know it by treating FICA payments as just another tax...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2011 17 Comments

The attacks on 9/11 separated the real heroes from the fake heroes. The Fake hero who comforted the grieving and raised a nation's spirits: The Fake hero who kept a city together: The Real Hero who walked barefoot over broken windows: It seems almost in bad taste to talk about dollars...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2011 19 Comments

In a post at NRO, praising Romney without bashing other Republican candidates: But he’s not only a family man, he is a man of principle. He believes in the bedrock conservative ideals of limited government and free enterprise. He will stand up for America’s allies when they...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2011 5 Comments

You could work hard and be happy. I'm certainly not against that. But if you really want to accomplish the goal of this bumper sticker, just keep commemorating 9/11. That annoys Paul Krugman and his many friends in the left-blogosphere more than anything. And if you weren't happy before,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 11, 2011 9 Comments

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having threated to have warships escort ships seeking to break the Gaza blockade, has walked back those comments, claiming he was taken out of context. But other Turks apparently are getting ready for another type of war with Israel: Turkish hackers...

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