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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 March 19, 2019 26 Comments
The Trump administration scored a big win in the Supreme Court today in the case of Nielsen v. Preap. Equally important, the court's focus on statutory language and interpretation bodes well for the Trump administration at such point as the litigation over Trump's Declaration of National Emergency makes its way to the Supreme Court. The Opinion is complicated, with multiple concurring opinions. But at a macro level, it split on the conservative-liberal line, with Chief Justice Roberts siding with the conservatives.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 14, 2019 66 Comments
The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that the victims and their families of the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 could sue the manufacturer of the gun used under Connecticut law, notwithstanding that the shooter Adam Lanza didn't purchase the gun (he stole it from his mother) and manufacturers are broadly protected by The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 12, 2019 18 Comments
This quote from the L.A. Times about Michael Avenatti and Stormy Daniels (aka Stephanie Clifford) parting ways perfectly sums up the result of Avenatti's legal prowess:
"While the two lawsuits produced no courtroom victory for Avenatti, they did turn him into a celebrity"

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 10, 2019 54 Comments
The repeated antisemitic comments from Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar, while condemnable, are all too familiar to those of us who have closely followed the anti-Israel movement. Charges of dual loyalty or disloyalty lodged against Jews predate the creation of the State of Israel by many centuries. Those charges are a core accusation of the oldest hate.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 07, 2019 21 Comments
Much focus the past week has been on the anti-Semitic accusations of dual and disloyalty from Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar, backed by the progressive wing of the party, particularly Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Democrats not only have been unable to deal with it, they connived to water down a planned resolution condemning the recent anti-Semitic outbursts of Omar. This Corbynization of the Democrat Party got all the attention, but but there was other news mostly under the media radar: Republicans in the Senate continued to confirm judicial nominees over Democrat protests, and the pace may pick up.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 06, 2019 14 Comments
The Democrat Party is trying to come to grips with the antisemitic agitation by Minnesota Rep. Ihlan Omar, backed by Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that Americans who support Israel do so for money and have pledged allegiance to Israel. These dual-loyalty and disloyalty accusations are echoed by left-wing and Islamist Democrat activists.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 05, 2019 35 Comments
The second attempt by the State of Colorado to punish Jack Phillips and his Masterpiece Cakeshop has come to an end, once again, with a victory for the baker. Round 1 was the baker's refusal to create a custom cake for a same-sex marriage, on the ground that it violated the baker's Christian faith to create a message celebrating same-sex marriage.
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