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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 October 24, 2018 13 Comments
Tracy Mitrano is the Democrat challenger to Republican congressman Tom Reed in my home district, NY-23. The District is mostly rural and conservative, stretching over a huge territory in upstate New York's Southern Tier. The District was created after 2010 redistricting, and is R+6 even though it includes ultra-liberal Ithaca and Tompkins County. The redistricting boundaries, which were drawn by the courts, have left Ithaca liberals feeling isolated and angry in congressional races dominated by the voters with whom liberal Ithacans have little in common.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 20, 2018 81 Comments
Now that Brett Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court, it's worth taking a look back at what changed the course of the fight. Democrats had thrown everything they had at Kavanaugh, including a misleadingly edited video circulated by Sen. Kamala Harris and false accusations of perjury circulated by many Democrats. None of it stuck, in part because of rapid fact response by the administration, Kavanaugh's team, and non-liberal media.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 16, 2018 38 Comments
Elizabeth Warren is not a spontaneous politician. Much like Hillary Clinton, every political move is planned out meticulously. It's why Warren has become notorious for avoiding unplanned encounters with reporters, where she can't control the format. Her preference has been to sit down only with friendly interviewers who will not challenge her in any meaningful way.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 15, 2018 198 Comments
Elizabeth Warren is not Native American. Her ancestry has been traced by Cherokee genealogists back to the early 1800s, as far back as there are records, and there are no Native American ancestors. The one potential Native American ancestor was Warren's great great great grandmother, Sarah O.C. Smith, but an initial 2012 report about that was debunked and The Boston Globe was forced to issue a retraction.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 14, 2018 37 Comments
Not since Wendy Davis have we seen national liberals fall so much in love with a Texan. You remember Wendy, the wannabe Governor of Texas, who with her pink sneakers became a national sensation and fundraising juggernaut after her very public opposition to pro-life legislation.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 14, 2018 15 Comments
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been on a roll. Together Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, McConnell has sheparded through Democrat obstruction a total as of today of 84 Trump judicial nominees, including 15 last week in addition to Brett Kavanaugh. Included in that group are two Supreme Court justices, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, and 29 Courts of Appeals judges.
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