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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 February 10, 2011 8 Comments

While there was much speculation that Hosni Mubarek would resign tonight, he just announced that he was staying for the transition through September elections.There will be more on this later, but the highlights of his speech were to lash out at foreign interference ("we are...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2011 4 Comments

I have posted here many times about my quirky home State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, particularly the union-controlled legislature, deficit-ridden municipalities, and Democratic hegemony:Rhode Island Dem Launches "Let's Scare Grandma" Tour Rhode Island Becoming A Sanctuary State Unions Rescued In Rhode IslandIn RI,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2011 2 Comments

Not sure this will help Mitch Daniels' putative campaign:For real, or the campaign equivalent of Stuxnet?--------------------------------------------Related Post:So Tell Me About Mitch DanielsFollow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2011 5 Comments

PolitiFact, started at the St. Petersburg Times and then franchised out to other newspapers including The Providence Journal, has been the subject of critique here before, Media Bias In Action: Providence Journal Politicizes PolitiFact:In these latest examples the circumstances are virtually identical -- both candidates voted...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2011 17 Comments

The New York Times reports on the inconsistency of how various government agencies count the races:The federal Department of Education would categorize Michelle López-Mullins — a university student who is of Peruvian, Chinese, Irish, Shawnee and Cherokee descent — as “Hispanic.” But the National Center...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2011 2 Comments

From the producer of How Liberal Journalists Think, Liberal Taxes Explained, Feminism Explained, and Meet The Liberal Elite.(h/t Small Dead Animals)--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 09, 2011 9 Comments

I pulled into the Wegmans shopping center in Ithaca tonight and saw the mother of all bumper sticker collections on the back of a beat-up sedan.I'm telling you, this was it, the bumper sticker photo to top all bumper sticker photos.  So much bumper sticker craziness...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 09, 2011 3 Comments

Via And So It Goes In Shreveport comes news of the death of "snaggletoothie" and a link to a loving memory by his father, My son Christopher David Monson aka snaggletoothie:"Chris was born on April 1, 1948. He passed away on January 28, 2011. He...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 09, 2011 13 Comments

Watching Sean Hannity's interview with Donald Rumsfeld last night reminded me of Rumsfeld's "known- knowns, known-unknowns, and unknown-unknowns" statement during a press conference in 2002.  I use this construct in class to describe how to build a legal case (you build it around the known-knowns, just saved...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 08, 2011 4 Comments

....(h/t @drjjoyner)--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 08, 2011 10 Comments

I have warned you about the Wordsmith-in-Chief.  You have to listen very carefully.In his interview with Bill O'Reilly just before the Superbowl, Obama said (via TaxProf)(emphasis mine):O'REILLY: Do you deny that you are a man who wants to redistribute wealth.OBAMA: Absolutely.O'REILLY: You deny that?OBAMA: Absolutely....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 08, 2011 11 Comments

The AP (via CBS News) has a headline sure to warm the hearts of the Obama communications team:  High Taxes? Actually, They're at a 60-Year Low:Actually, as a share of the nation's economy, Uncle Sam's take this year will be the lowest since 1950, when...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 08, 2011 2 Comments

Personal and national debt burdens are moving in opposite directions (charts via Bubble Meter, one of my favorite blogs).Household debt service payments as percentage of disposable personal income:Contrasted with federal budget deficit as percentage of GDP:--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 07, 2011 22 Comments

Shocking news from the frontlines of the anti-discrimination battles.  Liberals -- particularly in academia and the social sciences -- have a tribal mentality which results in discrimination against conservatives.What is shocking is not that such tribal mentality exists, but that anyone is expressing surprise.As reported by...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 07, 2011 7 Comments

I posted numerous times before about the alleged ambiguity in the New START Treaty language regarding missile defense, and how in the rush for a lame duck, pre-Christmas ratification, the Senate ignored differences in interpretation rather than seek clarification from the Russians.The Russians consistently had voiced...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 07, 2011 18 Comments

First, let me congratulate Arianna Huffington on selling The Huffington Post to AOL for a reported $315 million.  Isn't America a great place?Arianna came up with a great business model.  Create a place where liberals could tell each other how smart they were, where they could write...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 06, 2011 31 Comments

Sure, you have called San Francisco granola city and have joked how a certain NY Times columnist might choke on his granola.  But did you ever imagine in your wildest imagination that someone would put a granola bumper sticker on her car?  Just "granola."  It needs no...

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