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 June 25, 2014 33 Comments
New York Congressional District 22 is in the heart of central upstate New York, a mostly rural or semi-rural district that runs from Utica in the north to Johnson City-Endicott and Binghamton in the south. If New York had its own flyover country, NY-22 would be it.  The district is so safe Republican, that Democrats are not even running a candidate in this year's election. New York District 22 Republican incumbent Richard Hanna either is a liberal or "moderate" Republican, depending who you ask.  Few people call him a conservative, and he's rated as one of the most liberal Republicans in Congress. Hanna was challenged by Claudia Tenney, a conservative, Tea Party Republican state assemblywoman. The race was far tighter than the mainstream media expected.  At the end of the evening, Hanna won by about 1600 votes, 52.8% to 47.2%.  To barely win, Hanna and his supportive SuperPACs spent $2 million to Tenney's $150,000. Contrary to how many in the media are portraying the race, Hanna did not win because he was liberal or moderate.  To the contrary, Hanna's campaign and SuperPACs supporting him ran away from his "moderate" label and fully towards portraying Hanna as the more conservative candidate.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 24, 2014 6 Comments
Update: NY22 Final Results 2014 Republican Primary

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 24, 2014 31 Comments
What a long, strange trip it's been. Click here for our prior coverage of this race.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 24, 2014 23 Comments
The completely hyperventilated headline at the progressive "Crooks and Liars" website is Scott Walker Fan Indicted For Massive Voter Fraud. What apparently happened is that someone who allegedly is a Walker supporter voted multiple times in multiple elections and encouraged others to do so. The total fraudulent vote count is in the single digits, maybe as high as 10-12 votes spread among different jurisdictions. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has more details:
A Shorewood man has been charged with more than a dozen counts of illegal voting, accused of casting multiple ballots in four elections in 2011 and 2012, including five in the 2012 gubernatorial recall. Robert D. Monroe, 50, used addresses in Shorewood, Milwaukee and Indiana, according to the complaint, and cast some votes in the names of his son and his girlfriend's son.
Does this matter? Yes, of course. We have seen razor-tight elections. A few votes here or there could make a difference.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 23, 2014 9 Comments
Last night we wondered Will conservatives and Tea Party miss a golden opportunity in #NY22? and questioned why no big name national conservatives or Tea Party politicians were helping out in Claudia Tenney's challenge to Richard Hanna in the safe Republican NY-22 District. Tenney has faced over $1 million in negative false flag attack ads from Super PACs supporting Hanna. The anti-Tenney ads have run around the clock for weeks. Rick Santorum has answered the challenge, recording a robocall that went out to 50,000 Republican voters in the District:
Citizens United Political Victory Fund (CUPVF), the affiliated PAC of Citizens United, announced that Senator Rick Santorum will be contacting 50,000 Republican households in New York supporting conservative Claudia Tenney who is running in New York’s 22nd Congressional District’s Republican Primary which is being held on June 24th.
Will anyone else step up to the plate? In related developments, Washington Post notes Tenney's strong challenge:
Keep an eye on the 22nd District, where Rep. Richard Hanna (R) faces a surprisingly strong challenge from Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney (R).
Laura Ingraham also has endorsed Tenney:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 23, 2014 1 Comment

Professor, Saw this car parked at a Dunks in southern New Hampshire. Just FYI, the NH state motto is "Live free or die." Enjoy, J ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 22, 2014 18 Comments
I told you so.  Elizabeth Warren's repeated supposed refusals to run for President always were framed in the present tense: I am not running for President. That, of course, technically was correct.  I don't think anyone of note "is" running for President yet, but many are seriously considering it and likely will run. Nothing makes Warren's word games more clear than her interview with (my law school classmate) Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post:
The Massachusetts Democrat insists that she’s not running for president, and there’s little reason to doubt her — although, interestingly, Warren sticks doggedly to the present tense to describe her intentions. I asked Warren about this phrasing the other afternoon over iced tea mixed with lemonade at a restaurant near her Capitol Hill office. In these precincts, senator sightings are commonplace but, even here, Warren enjoys celebrity status; the manager promptly presented Warren with a copy of her memoir, “A Fighting Chance,” to sign. Why not simply declare that she will not run for president in 2016? “I am not running for president in 2016,” Warren responded. Yes, I pressed, but why not say, I am not running and I will not run?

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 21, 2014 30 Comments
Elizabeth Warren is doing the best she can with the ideology she has. So it was a shock to see Chris Matthews, of all people, call her out for being all talk and no real action. As if she would just say things for political effect. Or take advantage of situations unfairly for her own gain. Come on Chris. Leave Elizabeth alone. From The Daily Caller:
Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren clearly expected a softball interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Thursday night. But midway through her predictable talking points, the left-wing “Hardball” host unexpectedly struck out at the progressive darling over what he views as Democratic inaction on jobs and infrastructure.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 21, 2014 34 Comments
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been the subject of a brutal smear campaign by local district attorneys using the so-called "John Doe" procedure, as discussed in my post Media Malpractice – Report false criminal accusations against Walker, but not contrary judicial rulings. I also encourage you to read Gabriel Malor's column, A Basic Primer On The Scott Walker Case For Ignorant Reporters. Since it's obvious the media, particularly on the left, is running with the false accusations to damage Walker's current 2014 gubernatorial campaign and possible 2016 presidential bid, it's important that the media malpractice be exposed and the lies refuted. As with smears against Republicans in the past, it's not about the particularly target, in this case Walker.  It's about the media's desire to take down potential Republican candidates early and often, without regard to the truth. We've seen it already in the disgusting attack in The New Republic by Alec MacGillis claiming that Walker's success is based on white racism, New Republic’s race-baiting of Scott Walker just a 2016 warm up. Gov. Walker has written the following column, which he is encouraging others to run. It's a way of going around the mainstream media. Every single conservative blog and website should run this column. Here is Gov. Walker's column:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 20, 2014 2 Comments

I appeared on June 19, 2014, on The Larry Elder Show, talking about the BDS movement. Larry was very familiar with the movement, and voiced some strong opinions. I appreciate the opportunity, thanks Larry. UPDATE: Congratulations to Larry for getting a Star on the Walk of Fame! ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 19, 2014 8 Comments
Last Sunday night we called attention to the flood of PAC advertising on behalf of incumbent Republican Richard Hanna in the safe-Republican NY-22 district. The Republican primary is June 24. There is no Democratic candidate, because the district was considered so safe Republican. The PAC ads are "false flags" because they present Hanna as the most conservative candidate, when in fact challenger Claudia Tenney is the most conservative. WBNG 12 reports:
Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney held a press conference to call out Hanna, who she said is partnering with liberal companies in Washington and is sending out false information to voters. She said Hanna is putting out flyers that are simply not true. "He's putting out flyer after flyer describing himself as 'Your Conservative Voice, Your Conservative Choice.' There's a reason he keeps using the word conservative because that's who votes in Republican primaries," Tenney said. Tenney is the top-rated conservative in the state legislature and Hanna is the third most liberal of the Republican caucus.
Pro-Hannal liberal PACs have spent several hundred thousand dollars or more on these ads in a relatively small market where the advertising rates must be much lower than in large markets. I would not be surprised if $700,000 of ads in NY-22 is the equivalent of millions in big city markets. The ads are non-stop. This evening the ads were on TV during Special Report with Bret Baier:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 19, 2014 21 Comments
The big breaking news in the "John Doe" anti-Conservative Wisconsin investigation is that the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals released previously sealed court exhibits detailing accusations made at the time the Wisconsin prosecutors commenced the proceeding. So you get screaming headlines such as these: Headlines Scott Walker Accused of criminal scheme What is not being reported, is that multiple judges have found that the alleged criminal conduct was not in fact criminal even if the factual allegations were true. Here is part of Federal Judge Renda's opinion, which remains in effect halting the John Doe investigation, in a case brought by two of the targets:
The standard to apply in these cases was recently made clear by the Supreme Court in McCutcheon. Any campaign finance regulation, and any criminal prosecution resulting from the violation thereof, must target activity that results in or has the potential to result in quid pro quo corruption…. It is undisputed that O‘Keefe and the Club engage in issue advocacy, not express advocacy or its functional equivalent. Since § 11.01(16)‘s definition of political purposes must be confined to express advocacy, the plaintiffs cannot be and are not subject to Wisconsin‘s campaign finance laws by virtue of their expenditures on issue advocacy….
Accessibility by WAH