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 October 13, 2013 53 Comments
(Live Twitter embed at bottom of post) AP via WaPo reports:
A crowd of people has converged on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, pushing through barriers to protest the memorial’s closing under the government shutdown. WTOP Radio (http://bit.ly/GXQKGV ) reports Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas were among those who gathered Sunday morning, along with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Cruz says President Barack Obama is using veterans as pawns in the government shutdown. The memorial has become a symbol of the bitter fight between Democrats and Republicans over who is at fault since the shutdown began. On Sunday morning, a protest by truckers converged with a veterans march at the World War II Memorial. Participants cut the links between metal barriers at the National Park Service property and pushed them aside.
Photo stream here https://twitter.com/robertcostaNRO/status/389445415751254016 https://twitter.com/robertcostaNRO/status/389449108265517056 https://twitter.com/KatiePavlich/status/389467104833200128

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 13, 2013 22 Comments

There was one singularly most important aspect of the Obamacare computer problems detailed in this NY Times article, From the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health Portal. Not this: In March, Henry Chao, the chief digital architect for the Obama administration’s new online insurance marketplace, told industry...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 12, 2013 22 Comments
When it comes to Salon.com, I've always wondered if they really believe all their outlandish accusations of Tea Party and Republican racism, or it's just the niche they've carved out and click bait.  Look at me, I'm not Slate.com, I'm Salon.com. Whether it's David Sirota's rants about hoping the Boston Bombers were White Americans, Salon energizing its White Privilege Branding over the Zimmerman trial, or Joan Walsh writing that the "shutdown" (more like a scale back) is the culmination of 50 years of GOP race-baiting, do they actually believe what they write? When it comes to the "shutdown" Salon has caught a Confederate fever, and the only prescription, is more Confederate. Salon has several lead articles in recent days arguing that the Tea Party in general and the "shutdown" in particular are the fulfillment White racist Confederate dreams. By, um, Rafael Edward Cruz?  They never quite address that problem in their argument. Salon is not alone in raising the alleged rise of the Confederacy to demonize the Tea Party, but Salon has taken it to an obsessive level, once again. This would all be laughable, if it weren't so poisonous to the national political dialogue, and if so many liberals didn't actually believe this nonsense and treat it as an absolute truth (just read the comments there). (click each image for link to article, or not): Salon.com Tea Party Avenging surrender of the South Salon.com GOP confederate fantasies

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 12, 2013 43 Comments
Who could have seen this coming? Senate Republicans undercut the House proposal for a 6 week debt ceiling extension by proposing a longer extension: Senate Republicans Look To Jam Boehner Obama sided with the Senate Republicans, rejecting a short term extension.  Via Keith Koffler, Obama Reverses, Opposes Short-Term Debt Ceiling Hike:
Perhaps sensing Republican weakness, President Obama reversed himself and is pushing back against short-term debt ceiling hike, stressing in his weekly address released this morning what a bad idea it would be.
It wouldn’t be wise, as some suggest, to just kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season.
After the GOP was offfered earlier this week what I described as a cave-in by Obama – a willingness to accept a short term debt ceiling increase while negotiations Obama has previously rejected kicked in – Republicans failed to act, dithering for days and failing to forge a unified position between their House and Senate caucuses. Instead, sloppy Republican leadership allowed competing proposals to emerge from the House and Senate, with a Senate plan that would extend government financing for six months and raise the debt ceiling through January 2014. House Republicans sought to raise the debt limit until the week before Thanksgiving. As any general knows, when your opposition is divided, you win. Obama acted smartly to abet the divisions among Republicans by inviting them separately to the White House. At his meeting with GOP senators, Republicans were reduced to asking Obama what was in the House plan. What a joke. Republicans should have gotten their act together and insisted on a meeting between House and Senate GOP leaders and the president. This would have made sense unless, of course, House Speaker John Boehner was never serious about the House position to begin with . . .
Paul Ryan recognizes that the Senate Republicans undercut the House: https://twitter.com/brithume/status/389059172345864192 You know what I say? Primary them. Update: It's not as if undermining the House even got Senate Republicans anything:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 12, 2013 1 Comment

First they came for the Joker: College Student arrested for wearing “Joker” make-up to class Damn good thing they didn't wear Joker make-up at these events, or they might have been in trouble: Brown University Celebrates “Nude Week” Video – Jesse Watters Covers “Nude Week” at Brown U. New Hampshire’s...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 12, 2013 43 Comments

You know the story why this blog was started on October 12, 2008 at 5:42 p.m. Here's what the blog looked like on November 15, 2008 and for the first 2 1/2 years while we were on Google Blogger (Yikes! It's like looking at your junior high school photo): Hey, look who our...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 11, 2013 9 Comments

Ted Cruz appeared today at the Values Voters Summit. The big news was that he got heckled and gave it back. Here's the clip.  (The full video is here.) [video embed removed because causing problems, so go here to view video]...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 11, 2013 19 Comments

I followed Shirley Sherrod's lawsuit against Andrew Breitbart and Larry O'Connor over an edited video of Sherrod's speech to an NAACP chapter very carefully early on, demonstrating beyond doubt that the core of Sherrod's claim, that she was falsely portrayed in a short video Breitbart released,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 11, 2013 34 Comments

One thing you have to remember about Obamacare is that much of the financial pain, such as steep penalties, is back ended so that by the time people wake up to reality, the law has been operating for years and it's too late. Here's yet another...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 11, 2013 44 Comments
A conversation I had with myself on Twitter this morning. Just because I could. (added) Be sure to read Anne's study on how embarrassed Republicans were of the Republican Brand long before the current "shutdown," New study sheds light on why Republicans won’t call themselves Republican. Also available on Storify. https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/statuses/388635508047216641 https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/statuses/388635827816771584 https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/statuses/388636232642600960 https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/statuses/388636692166348800
Accessibility by WAH