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.
My appearance on The Matt Allen Show: Cut off the funding from the federal government and private foundations....
UMN is a repeat offender in programming that discriminates in favor of BIPOC students and against white students, having recently resolved a similar OCR complaint brought by EPP as to a different program, yet it continued such discriminatory conduct....
My "hot take" on the whole nominee thing can be summed up as: Don't Worry, Be Happy (that Kamala is not the one picking a cabinet)....
Our Op-Ed in The NY Post: "Trump’s win, driven by a broad multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious coalition, puts DEI on life support. It’s time to pull the plug and let DEI die."...
My interview on Chicago's Morning Answer: "is Trump supposed to respect an institution that, in his first term, tried to set him up? So I think this is a big middle finger. I think this is him saying, it's going to be my Department of...
The Equal Protection Project fought the good fight, but always knew it was an uphill battle. Misleading marketing of the amendment by the Democrat and leftist-NGO machinery in a deep blue state using the Trojan Horse of protecting abortion and misleading ballot language made passage...
Democrats fear Sotomayor will "Ruth Bader Ginsburg" them, and will die when Republicans control the Senate and presidency in 2025, allowing Trump to nominate her replacement....
Trump "can unify the nation, he can unify communities, but these nasty, malicious people who abused our prosecutorial system, who abused their public office, who engaged in what amounted to extortion against Republicans and Trump supporters, they need to be held to account."...
"my initial reaction is a sense that we’ve been pulled back from the edge, like we were standing on a ledge, and someone has just pulled us back and given us a second chance."...
We will update the results as they come in....
"Every logical, analytical part of me says this should be a good year for Trump and Republicans, but there’s always that gnawing feeling that they’re going to pull something." If Trump wins, "there will be major rioting and violence. We’re already seeing meltdowns over the...
My hot take on the false media claim that Trump threstened to have Liz Cheney shot: "this is as bad as I've ever seen it."...
"UW-Madison is a repeat offender, having previously resolved another OCR complaint regarding another BIPOC-only program, yet instituting and promoting the present BIPOC MOSAIC program anyway."...
Prof. John Banzoff sees a strong legal defense: "in the face of such clear threats to kill others, Penny is entitled under New York State's § 35.15 to use even deadly force because, in the words of the statute, "the actor reasonably believes that such...
It’s not just a contest between two candidates; it’s a contest between outlooks—a movement that hates the other side to their core and reveals that when among their own. They told us how they really feel....
IDF: "In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel—right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran."...
