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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.

Public Policy Polling (PPP) is a long-time Democratic pollster, which last year became the official pollster for DailyKos.PPP is prolific in its polling, with new polls released almost daily.  I have linked to PPP's polls in the past.  PPP has a good knack for finding...

United States Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI), regarding the termination notices sent to Providence school teachers because of budget problems:"U.S. Rep. David Cicilline said Monday that the $57-million-plus deficit facing Providence will require looking at personnel reductions, union concessions and looking at reserve funds." Now he...

Paul Krugman (emphasis mine):I don’t watch cable news, or actually any kind of TV news. But I gather that there’s a virtual blackout on the huge demonstrations in Wisconsin, except on Fox, which portrays them as thuggish and violent.What that makes me think of is...

My first reaction to news that the police in Madison went back on their intention to clear the state Capitol of overnight protesters was one of indignation.  This certainly seemed like a manifestation of the police union intent to side with their fellow union protesters...

He did, in 1961 while visiting Santiago, Chile, while he was an Assistant District Attorney of Suffolk County (Boston), Massachusetts (not clear if this was on the taxpayers' dime):“While Kennedy was in Santiago he made arrangements to ‘rent’ a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited...

Despite threats by some police union members to stop the evacuation of the Madison Capitol, and some wishful thinking by supporters of the protesters, the Capitol has in fact been closed as of 4 p.m. (CT) today, with "peaceful resistance" by some protesters.As reported a little after closing...

Think Progress sent a videographer to the Tea Party Patriots Policy Summit, and tracked down Tim Pawlenty.  Think Progress surely thought it would get one of those ambush type interviews where the candidate says something he regrets, but in fact in this case Think Progress...

Well, maybe with the Libyans and others in the Middle East who, according to The New York Times, have embraced this Israeli spoof of Muammar Gaddafi:A satirical YouTube clip mocking Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s megalomania is fast becoming a popular token of the Libya uprising across...

In the aftermath of the overthrow of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post penned a meme which has become common among the mainstream media and left-blogosphere, that The GOP loves freedom, but not for Egypt:The conservative mantra has been: Obama...

There's a reason this blog is called Legal Insurrection.  An insurrection by definition is illegal, but that is exactly what some police union members in Wisconsin have threatened in support of fellow public sector unions.The video below show a policeman (presumably off-duty but wearing what looks like a...

Protests in support of Wisconsin public sector unions were organized by MoveOn.org and labor unions today.Promoters, such as David Dayen at Firedoglake, were predicting a million-person turnout nationwide.  But reports as of 7:00 E.S.T. today make clear that other than in Madison, Wisconsin, the crowds were sparse.The turnout...

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:And now we go deeper into the linguistic gymnastics which are required to avoid being called a racist.  Having covered Black Friday, Black Hole, Providence Plantations, Rejigger, Gobbledygook, and "No...

The folks at Firedoglake were very excited about the story that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was kicked out of a restaurant in Madison, based on a report by a blogger in Madison:Sometimes, it’s good to leave detached, cerebral meta-analyses of politics aside and just get...

Spotted in Ithaca this morning:And while you're at it, don't you miss the old civility? --------------------------------------------Related Posts:Bumper Stickers - The SeriesFollow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

I'm sure the Iranian Minister of Whatever will soon announce that Iran has completely cured its Stuxnet problem.But that announcement will have to wait, because Iran is too busy right now unloading nuclear fuel rods from the Bushehr nuclear reactor, even though the reactor was...

A pro-union blogger impersonated David Koch in order to get through to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.  The blogger, pretending to be Koch, made numerous inflammatory and outrageous comments hoping to get a reaction from Walker.  The blogger recorded the phone call, and then released the phone...

What is Obama doing?No, I mean, "what" is he "doing"?  As in, is he doing anything?The Middle East is in flames, our domestic energy production is hurting as oil prices rise, job creation is almost non-existent, the deficit and national debt are out of control, people are...