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.
Pushing for final vote next week less than 48 hours after Second Passover Seder...
“Yesterday Brandeis University decided to withdraw an honorary degree they were to confer upon me next month during their Commencement exercises. I wish to dissociate myself from the university’s statement, which implies that I was in any way consulted about this decision. On the contrary, I was completely shocked when President Frederick Lawrence called me—just a few hours before issuing a public statement—to say that such a decision had been made.... “What did surprise me was the behavior of Brandeis. Having spent many months planning for me to speak to its students at Commencement, the university yesterday announced that it could not “overlook certain of my past statements,” which it had not previously been aware of. Yet my critics have long specialized in selective quotation – lines from interviews taken out of context – designed to misrepresent me and my work. It is scarcely credible that Brandeis did not know this when they initially offered me the degree. “What was initially intended as an honor has now devolved into a moment of shaming. Yet the slur on my reputation is not the worst aspect of this episode. More deplorable is that an institution set up on the basis of religious freedom should today so deeply betray its own founding principles. The 'spirit of free expression' referred to in the Brandeis statement has been stifled here, as my critics have achieved their objective of preventing me from addressing the graduating Class of 2014. Neither Brandeis nor my critics knew or even inquired as to what I might say. They simply wanted me to be silenced. I regret that very much.
Because Baseball and Steriods can't hurt Democrats...
Eric O’Keefe’s civil rights lawsuit against prosecutors in a Democrat-driven John Doe probe into conservative targets will go on after a federal judge on Tuesday thoroughly denied a motion to dismiss the litigation. Judge Rudolph Randa of the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, pushed aside the argument by the prosecutors-turned-defendants that federal courts generally must abstain from taking up federal constitutional claims that involve or call into question ongoing state proceedings.
The John Doe investigation, a multi-county secret probe into dozens of conservative groups, including conservative political activist O’Keefe and his Wisconsin Club for Growth, "does not fit into any of the categories" for abstention, the judge wrote in his decision. "It is an investigatory process, not an ongoing criminal prosecution case," Randa said.
Nationally renowned self-defense expert Andrew Branca will speak at Campbell Law School next Tuesday, April 8 at noon in room 105. Branca, author of “The Law of Self Defense” will speak on how self-defense has become one of the latest hot button issues in gun law politics. He will also address North Carolina’s Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground laws.... One of the foremost experts in the United States in self-defense law across all 50 states, Branca’s expertise has been used by the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, NPR, and numerous other media organizations, as well as many private, state, and federal agencies. A Massachusetts-based attorney, he is an adjunct instructor of the law of self-defense at the Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, New Hampshire. He regularly lectures throughout the country on self-defense and the legal consequences thereafter. “Mr. Branca is one of the leading experts nationally on self-defense and the Second Amendment,” said Campbell Law Associate Professor of Law Greg Wallace. “We are fortunate to have him joining us, and I have no doubt that it will be an engaging experience for all in attendance.”One self-described "Online tech fixer for progressive causes" tweeted:
"the long suffering Commonwealth of Virginia under Gov. Terry McAuliffe"? Is it too soon? From Carolyn: Another fine submission from Alexandria, VA ...
The full Resolution linked on the Assembly website is embedded at the bottom of this post. Here's the operative part:
(22) Be it resolved, that Cornell University will further examine its assets for investments in companies that a) provide military support for, or weaponry to, the occupation of Palestinian territory or b) facilitate the building or maintenance of the illegal separation wall or the demolition of Palestinian homes, or c) facilitate the building, maintenance or economic development of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, (23) Be it further resolved, that Cornell University will make information about all of its assets public, pertaining especially to its investments, (24) And be it finally resolved, that Cornell University will end its complicity with the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and divest its holdings from the aforementioned companies and any other companies that profit directly from Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Cornell University will not make further investments in companies that materially support or profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.Passover starts Monday night, April 14, and many Jewish students at Cornell leave on Thursday to head home for the holidays. If the Resolution is not tabled on Thursday, the Resolution will come to a formal vote on the following Thursday, April 17, in the middle of Passover, just a day after Jewish students return to campus after Passover Seders. By so scheduling the Resolution, SJP and its supporters in the Student Assembly have sought to put Jewish students and campus groups at a disadvantage, literally forcing them to choose between celebrating the Jewish People's Exodus from slavery in Egypt or organizing to fight the Divestment Resolution.
I was pleased to appear on The Ed Morrissey Show this afternoon. Other guests were Andrew Malcolm, Veronique de Rugy, and Sean Noble. My segment starts at the 41 minute mark. We talked about the Mozilla and the anti-Israel academic boycott. Video streaming...
@JasonMattera I guess you haven't been on a campus lately
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) April 8, 2014Eradicate internal judicial processes for students that break laws, those crimes will be reported directly to police.There was a lot missing from the list, like a focus on raising academic standards. But college increasingly is not about academics, anyway, it's about "social justice" retribution and entitlement entrenchment. But the one glaring demand missing from the list was this:
That "[students] live [on a campus] where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."In fact, almost everything on the grievance list is designed to insure that that dream never comes true.
Democrats are addicted to the 77% pay gap lie....
Might apply to more than one of these bumper stickers. From Deb: I took this pic in a parking lot in Walpole MA. The irony in the inclusion of the Ben Franklin quote leaves me speechless. This is someone completely unclear on the concept of freedom and security! The...
If people were played here, when does the boycott of OKCupid start?...
A change.org petition for Coach Black's reinstatement has over 4000 signatures.
Then they came for the boys who twirl pencils...
The classic rephrased by Jeb Bush: "Robbing from Committing Acts of Love on the rich and giving to the poor" Spotted in Ithaca, at the mall parking lot. (Yeah, you can feel sorry for me.)...
Facilities Commissioner Armen Hadjimanoukian of the Bruins United slate, Community Service Commissioner Omar Arce, an independent councilmember, and General Representative Lizzy Naameh of the LET’S ACT! slate sponsored the resolution.... In a second straw vote later in the meeting, no councilmembers changed their vote. Student Wellness Commissioner Savannah Badalich, Naameh, External Vice President Maryssa Hall, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Jessica Trumble and Arce still said they would support the resolution.Arce not only sponsored the resolution, he also endorsed a letter claiming "Islamophobic commentary" in opposition to the divestment resolution necessitated a "Diversity Requirement." The Daily Bruin reports that Arce has been arrested on charges of false imprisonment related to alleged sexual batteries:
An undergraduate student council member was arrested by university police Wednesday on a charge of false imprisonment. On Wednesday, a female student reported a series of sexual batteries between October and March. The report led to 21-year-old Omar Arce’s arrest, according to a police report released Thursday afternoon. UCPD arrested Arce, the Undergraduate Students Association Council Community service commissioner and a fourth-year international development studies student, at 10:47 a.m. Wednesday and transported him to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in West Hollywood. Arce was booked about 11:30 a.m. on $50,000 bail. He is currently being held at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.The local Fox affiliate further reports on the arrest:
"A great country ought to know where those folks are and politely ask them to leave," he said, adding later that properly targeting people who overstay visas "would restore people's confidence" in the nation's immigration system. "There are means by which we can control our border better than we have. And there should be penalties for breaking the law," he added. "But the way I look at this -- and I'm going to say this, and it'll be on tape and so be it. The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country because they couldn’t come legally, they come to our country because their families -- the dad who loved their children -- was worried that their children didn’t have food on the table. And they wanted to make sure their family was intact, and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn’t rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families."Mickey Kaus calls it a "cunning strategy":
Jeb’s Jejune Swoon: Why did Jeb Bush say those provocative, seemingly jejune things about illegal border crossing being “not a felony” but ” an act of love? Obviously it’s what he actually thinks. But, again, why did he say it? Two theories: 1) He’s running in 2016 and thinks he can compensate for giving amnesty to all the illegal border crossers (mainly from Mexico) by cracking down and even deporting visa-overstayers (who aren’t so much from Latin America). It’s a weak attempt to appease immigration hawks–but it’s also a double-pander to many Latinos, who (rightly) resent politicians who talk about building a Southern fence while ignoring the visa-overstay problem. Clever! I don’t think the immigration hawks will be fooled, though, since Bush also endorsed the Gang of 8 bill, which legalizes instantly while postponing enforcement until later. Or …
