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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, 2020 31 Comments
I'm back from California. In less than 72 hours on the ground, I packed in three important events, including a talk on campus free speech and culture for the Cornell and Harvard Clubs in Orange County, a panel appearance about anti-Israel activism on campuses at the national conference of Alums for Campus Fairness, and our Legal Insurrection Reader Reception.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 05, 2020 105 Comments
Surprisingly, I'm not angry at Mitt Romney for his vote to convict Donald Trump for abuse of power and to remove him from office. I disagree with it, strongly, but anger isn't my emotion. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" is more my emotion. Disgust is more my emotion. Romney has disappointed so many times, I'm numb to him.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 04, 2020 74 Comments
Trump's third State of the Union Address begins tonight around 9 PM ET. You can watch live below and this post will be continuously updated with the latest.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 02, 2020 34 Comments
We've all seen how the mainstream media lives in NY and DC bubbles. Regardless of where they came from, they often embody the shock at how people outside the coastal and liberal bubbles live. They *literally* didn't know anyone who voted for Trump, so they were shocked that 60 million people did so. On campuses, which are feeding grounds for journo bubbles, there were crying circles on election night 2016.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 01, 2020 96 Comments
Mitch McConnell isn't the flashiest person on Capitol Hill. To put it mildly. Chuck Schumer regularly beats McConnell to the TV cameras, and Nancy Pelosi makes grand pronouncements as if the Senate and McConnell don't exist.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 30, 2020 13 Comments
With any luck, by this time tomorrow night, the Schiff circus will have ended its run in the Senate with a vote not to allow Democrats to 'Kavanaugh' the hearings. Perhaps there also will be a vote to end the impeachment trial in its entirely, by dismissal or verdict.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 29, 2020 60 Comments
We are approaching the witching hour in the Senate impeachment trial. It could all but end this week, or go on for weeks or months, depending on which way the media wind blows a handful of wobbly Republican Senators.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 28, 2020 59 Comments
Can we all just agree, Trump Derangement Syndrome has turned CNN into a total trash network? Like the proverbial broken clock, a couple of times a day they do actual journalism, but the rest of the time it is a broken network hemorrhaging viewers while devolving into self-parody.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 27, 2020 40 Comments
It has been clear for weeks that the Democrats were seeking to 'Kavanaugh' the Senate impeachment trial -- to roll out with media help a well-timed series of supposed bombshell accusations whose main purpose was to create a media hysteria to pressure Republican Senators to extend the process. The process for the nominee, or in the impeachment framework the president, becomes the punishment and the Democrat campaign strategy.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 25, 2020 30 Comments
I was traveling much of this week, so I didn't watch that much of the Democrats' presentation of their case in the Senate impeachment trial. I saw bits and pieces, and checked in from time to time on Twitter. The dominant presence was Adam Schiff. It seemed that almost every time I turned on the TV, he was talking and talking and talking.
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