Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Author: William A. Jacobson

Profile photo

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 December 09, 2019 51 Comments
The report of DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz on the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign was as expected. As with his prior report on FBI Director James Comey's leaking of information, Horowitz provided a headline version allowing Comey and others to declare exoneration because no criminal referral, while the details were devastating.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 08, 2019 20 Comments
The history of Elizabeth Warren's political scandals is that she initially releases only the information she thinks people already know. When doubt is cast on her story and the controversy doesn't disappear, she tries to get ahead of the issue with an information release which is incomplete. When even more doubt is cast, Warren repeats the tactic.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 07, 2019 25 Comments
This week ended with the Senate confirming 8 federal judicial nominees, bringing the total of Trump-appointed federal judges to 172, one-fifth of the federal judiciary. But liberals and the mainstream media barely paid attention because they all were focused on Jerry Nadler's law professor show, which was so boring and worthless, even Nadler had trouble staying awake.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 06, 2019 22 Comments
Since 2012, we have covered Elizabeth Warren's years representing large corporations against the interests of employees and others Warren now claims to champion. Warren likely earned millions of dollars in compensation, but never has disclosed those amounts. Indeed, our research led the way, with even The Washington Post recently crediting us for unearthing Warren's legal representation of Dow Chemical against women claiming damages for breast implants.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 04, 2019 31 Comments
Today was perhaps the biggest farce yet in the impeachment saga. Two of the law professors called by the Democrats (Pamela Karlin and Noah Feldman) were so over-the-top partisan and political, that they buried whatever legal points they were making. The third law professor called by Democrats, Michael Gerhardt, was not much better. There was little difference between their harangues and those of Adam Schiff and other Democrat politicians. They soiled themselves.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 02, 2019 21 Comments
On November 8, 2019, I noted a strange twist in the Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College case. Several months after the verdicts, and a month after the court denied a nearly identical motion by Oberlin College, two Cleveland media outlets plus an Ohio media non-profit group sought to unseal the Facebook records of Allyn D. Gibson.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 28, 2019 1 Comment
December 3, 2019, is Giving Tuesday, the first one for the Legal Insurrection Foundation, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3). All donations are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law. Reader donations have been critical to our success and survival. More than you know.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 26, 2019 41 Comments
On Sunday morning, November 24, Walter Canon, son of Kemberlee Kaye and her husband Jeff, entered the world at 9 lbs. 8 oz. He joins his two big sisters, who have been anxiously awaiting his arrival. Walt was born with a congenital heart problem, and is being cared for by doctors and nurses at a Houston children's hospital.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 26, 2019 53 Comments
I'm not saying we're clairvoyant. I'm not saying we see things before others do. I'm not saying that by the time this is all over you are going to be asking us to pick lottery numbers for you. I'm not saying any of those things, though I will humble brag that as a kid I was pretty good at the Ouija board and Magic 8 Ball.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 26, 2019 18 Comments
The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to Trump's accounting firm, pending a full appeal. So while the Stay is temporary, it likely will last several months until the appeal is decided. This is part of a full-scale assault by Democrat controlled entities at the federal and state level to obtain (and then leak, of course) Trump's personal financial and tax information. There is a related petition pending regarding a grand jury subpoena to the same accounting firm from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which presents similar but distinct legal issues.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 25, 2019 21 Comments
For many years, on November 25 and also Memorial Day, we have remembered Johnny Micheal Spann, a CIA Operations Officer who was the first American killed in Afghanistan after 9/11. We have told Spann's story many times, but it never gets old. Our 15th Anniversary post summed up much of what we had learned, 15th Anniversary: Johnny “Mike” Spann, first American killed in Afghanistan.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 24, 2019 32 Comments
I was in Ithaca for a school event recently, and it didn't take much time so see an anti-Impeachment ad on TV. This ad directed at Anthony Brindisi (D-NY22) was all over the airwaves (not sure if it was Binghamton or Syracuse stations):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 21, 2019 118 Comments
I am now going to give you the least surprising announcement in the history of unsurprising announcements:
"Breaking: Dems say enough evidence to move forward on impeachment. Vote likely by mid-December. They will not wait for courts to force additional witnesses"
Accessibility by WAH