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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 August 07, 2014 3 Comments
One of the enduring claims related to the Gaza war is that pushed by New York Magazine author Katie Zavadski in a viral article originally titled: "It Turns Out Hamas Didn’t Kidnap and Kill 3 Israeli Teens After All (link goes to updated version, not original)(screenshot via Seth Frantzman): https://twitter.com/sfrantzman/status/494216021016723457/photo/1 That claim gave rise to the meme that Israel had concocted a Hamas connection to the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in order to start the Gaza war.  At most, the story went, the kidnapping was carried out by a "lone cell" and thus could not be blamed on Hamas. The claim, however, is falling apart both because it wasn't backed up by facts and because Israel recently revealed that it had arrested the Hamas mastermind, and that there was a definite connection to Hamas.  For background, read these two posts: Today more information was released which further undermines the NY Magazine story, Hamas West Bank head arrested, indicted for planning wave of terror attacks:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 07, 2014 8 Comments
I have argued strenuously against the academic boycott of Israel, led by people like Steven Salaita, on a number of grounds. Not the least of those grounds is that academics who insist on violating the academic freedom of Israelis and those who wish to interact with Israelis do damage to the system in its entirety. That is one of the reasons why the American Association of University Professors, numerous university associations, and over 250 University Presidents issued statements opposing the academic boycott of Israel passed by the American Studies Association in December 2013. There is a related point to how academic boycotts have a negative ripple effect. On what ground do the academic boycotters of Israel claim their own academic freedom if they are so quick to deny it to others? Because they think they are right? What if the people who want to boycott the boycotters believe just as firmly in their own correctness? Now you can see why universities reacted so swiftly in rejecting the academic boycott -- it's easy to start, but hard to stop. As posted earlier, Inside Higher Ed reports that Salaita allegedly was denied an offer at U. Illinois at at Urbana-Champaign because of his tweets. I don't know if that's true, if it was the anti-Israeli views expressed in the tweets, or if it was that the tweets arguably presented Salaita as an unhinged and unstable demagogue who would bring disrepute on his institution and intimidate his students; or any or none of the above. Many of those rushing to Salaita's defense on the ground of academic freedom, however, themselves are among the worst violators of academic freedom through the anti-Israel academic boycott. They would turn away a Dean or representative of an Israeli academic institution, would bar joint programs and research, and even cooperation in journal publications.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 07, 2014 41 Comments
While over 700 journalists were covering the Gaza conflict, few paid attention to the mass slaughter in Iraq of the Yazidi, who are on the verge of a true genocide at the hands of ISIS. Finally the impending massacre is getting coverage, but it may be too late. The Washington Post reported two days ago:
Stranded on a barren mountaintop, thousands of minority Iraqis are faced with a bleak choice: descend and risk slaughter at the hands of the encircled Sunni extremists or sit tight and risk dying of thirst. Humanitarian agencies said Tuesday that between 10,000 and 40,000 civilians remain trapped on Mount Sinjar since being driven out of surrounding villages and the town of Sinjar two days earlier. But the mountain that had looked like a refuge is becoming a graveyard for their children. Unable to dig deep into the rocky mountainside, displaced families said they have buried young and elderly victims of the harsh conditions in shallow graves, their bodies covered with stones. Iraqi government planes attempted to airdrop bottled water to the mountain on Monday night but reached few of those marooned.... Most of those who fled Sinjar are from the minority Yazidi sect, which melds parts of ancient Zoroastrianism with Christianity and Islam. They are considered by the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State to be devil worshippers and apostates.
WaPo updates today:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 07, 2014 5 Comments

Equal opportunity...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 06, 2014 36 Comments
Dr. Milton Wolf's primary challenge to Kansas Senator Pat Roberts fell shy last night, but by a much closer margin than just about anyone predicted, 48-41. We supported Dr. Wolf, as someone who would help move the Republican Party and the Republic forward, departing from the stale insider Washington, D.C. games. A "scandal" regarding some old Facebook posts of anonymous patient x-rays sapped Wolf's momentum early in the race, and probably cost him some large backers who might otherwise agree with his politics. But as the race progressed, Wolf picked up steam as Roberts faltered and became portrayed as a D.C. insider out of touch, both physically and philosophically, with Kansans. Despite the loss, let's give Dr. Milton Wolf a round of applause for fighting the good fight with enormous odds against him. According to Politico, a key factor -- if not the key factor -- in Roberts' win was help from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the same group that rescued Thad Cochran. The NRSC is an incumbent protection organization, plain and simple. That's its job, help protect Republican incumbents. Period. No matter how bad. No matter the implications for the Party long term. Many people are critical of the NRSC, because they confuse the NRSC's role. Politico reports:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 06, 2014 33 Comments
Anti-Semitism is becoming a pervasive, worldwide problem hinged on anti-Israel attitudes. Australia has seen numerous anti-Israel protests and an increase in anti-Semitic incidents.  A Rabbi visiting from Israel was recently attacked.  Some of the Australian media have engaged in anti-Semitic tropes. In the Bondi area of Sydney, a group of religious Jews recently was attacked: The latest attack was on a school bus used by a Jewish school, from The Daily Telegraph - Australia:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 05, 2014 13 Comments
We've been here before. The Jenin Massacre that wasn't. The Pallywood industry of deception. And a Western media that laps it all up without question when hostilities are active, and only in some cases bothers to look back later as the facts come out. In the current Gaza conflict, one of the biggest talking points, repeated endlessly by the media, anti-Israel groups, "human rights" groups, and the U.N., is that only a tiny portion, maybe 15% of deaths, were Palestinian combatants. That numbers game was put into play not by Israel, but by those against Israel. It's morbid to engage in these body counts, but it is the Palestinians and their advocates who put them in issue by claiming that the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths constitutes proof of a war crime. It doesn't, as disproportionate force is more than a number count, but in the public relations realm it matters. Slowly, as in past conflicts (including in Lebanon 2006), that statistic will be revealed to be a lie. That civilian deaths are a result of rockets launched from civilian areas is only part of the story. The Washington Post, to its credit, has two articles at least presenting the possibility that the media has been manipulated. In Reporters grapple with politics, erratic sources in reporting Israeli/Gaza death toll, WaPo examines the questionable civilian-to-combatant statistics used by Palestinians:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 04, 2014 7 Comments
Once again we return to writing about Malmö, Sweden. Malmö, for us, has become something of the poster-child for Islamist anti-Semitic violence in Europe coupled with leftist tolerance and indifference, all in the name of hating Israel. From our archives: Recently there have been anti-Israel rallies in Malmö: It is not surprising that the anti-Semitic shame of Malmö egged on by anti-Israel hate in the streets has resulted in violence, from JTA via Haaretz, Rabbi attacked in Sweden, days after synagogue vandalized
A rabbi from the Swedish city of Malmo was attacked by men who hurled objects at him from a car and used anti-Semitic pejoratives. Rabbi Shneur Kesselman was assaulted on Saturday night along with a member of his congregation, the Sydsvenskan daily reported Sunday. The attack, which resulted in no physical injuries, came on the heels of vandalism against the southern city’s main synagogue on July 31, when unidentified individuals smashed three of the building’s windows by hurling objects at them.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 04, 2014 13 Comments
Live Video and Twitter feed at bottom of post Breaking reports out of Egypt indicate that the various "Palestinian factions" have agreed to a 72-hour unconditional truce. This was the original Egyptian proposal which was rejected by Hamas more than two weeks and over 1000 lives ago. Israel reportedly will agree, as it has multiple times before. Let's see if Hamas again uses the truce as an opportunity to launch more surprise attacks.
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