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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 June 07, 2011 4 Comments

The Assad regime is claiming that 120 security officers were killed in northern Syria in the past couple of days.  These figures and the circumstances are disputed, and there is speculation of a mutiny, but regardless of whether real or exaggerated, this could be the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 07, 2011 14 Comments

Joseph Cannon was one of the first and most vocal to claim that Andrew Breitbart either directly or through others had set up Anthony Weiner by hacking and/or spoofing the original tweet last Friday night which set off the firestorm.Cannon's theory of how Weiner was...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 06, 2011 24 Comments

In the continuing saga, in which Palin is being savaged and mocked, please listen to this NPR interview with Robert Allison, a professor and historian at Suffolk University, in which Allison argues that while Palin may have had some details wrong, she mostly was correct about Paul Revere's...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 06, 2011 66 Comments

Earlier today I noted that numerous people owed Andrew Breitbart an apology.Among those people was Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs who accused Andrew Bretibart of "smearing" Weiner with "phony" accuastions.  Now that Bretibart has been vindicated, is Charles willing to man up and apologize?  Hell...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 06, 2011 22 Comments

At 4 p.m. Eastern.  Will the headline be "Weiner Hangs In There" or "Weiner Peters Out"?Updates:  Admits sent photo Friday, did it as joke, then laughed about it.  "To be clear the picture was of me and I sent it."Also "engaged in several inappropriate" conversations,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 06, 2011 13 Comments

Now that more photos and information are coming out from multiple sources about Anthony Weiner's online exchange of photos and salacious talk, it is worth revisiting how the left blogosphere relentlessly pushed the meme that this was an Andrew Breitbart hoax:Charles Johnson:Joseph Cannon:DailyKos:Eric Boehlert, who took time...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 06, 2011 3 Comments

It was surprisingly easy for public sector unions to bust Providence.  Through political influence public sector unions gained a majority on the Providence Pension Board, and helped themselves to unsustainable benefits.The Providence Journal digs bag into the history of the City of Providence pension system,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 06, 2011 13 Comments

This is the day after which not even Debbie Wasserman Schultz can save Weiner.Just go to Breitbart's Big Government as the evidence of more photos is dribbled out today.  Patterico is all Weiner, all the time.  Stacy McCain hasn't had so much fun since ever. ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 06, 2011 41 Comments

This weekend, lacking any new Weiner revelations (but see today), the left-blogosphere (but not exclusively the left) was preoccupied with proving that Sarah Palin was wrong when she said that Paul Revere had warned the British that the colonial militias were massing.  Relying on the Longfellow poem...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 06, 2011 3 Comments

...Those were the days, my friendWe thought they'd never endWe'd sing and dance forever and a dayWe'd live the life we chooseWe'd fight and never loseFor we were young and sure to have our wayLa la la la la laLa la la la la la--------------------------------------------Follow...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 05, 2011 6 Comments

On Friday the Syrian army killed 63 Syrian protesters against the Assad regime.As before, Assad tried to deflect international attention by sending Palestinians to try to crash the border fence on the Golan Heights, with predictable results that Israel did not allow them to breach...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 05, 2011 8 Comments

Sent by reader Jason, taken in Asheville, NC:--------------------------------------------Related Posts:Bumper Stickers - The SeriesRocky The Border Terrier (1994-2011)Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 04, 2011 10 Comments

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:This week we bring together two distinct concepts.  Chris Matthews and Naomi Campbell.Chris Matthews has been featured here before for his prowess in playing the race card.This week Matthews...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 04, 2011 19 Comments

That's what Andrew Sullivan calls me because I pointed out facts which contradict his narrative of Sarah Palin.Funny thing about facts, Andy.  Name calling can't change them.--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 04, 2011 17 Comments

In the comments to my post about the inaccurate reaction to Sarah Palin's comments about Paul Revere, Taylor Marsh posted the following: This post is representative of what's wrong with our politics on both sides of the aisle. The lengths some people will go to in order...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 04, 2011 3 Comments

Hat tip to several readers who forwarded the link:--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

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