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.
"The Supreme Court has unequivocally repudiated the core philosophy that dominates the campuses and increasingly corporations."...
"The Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits in establishing that the Government has used its power to silence the opposition...
The colleges and universities that have been the most aggressive and belligerent in defending illegal race-based affirmative action are finding their most cherished and lucrative admissions practices challenged: Legacy and Donor preferences....
My position since long before the recent SCOTUS Affirmative Action decision: "I am against legacy admissions preferences regardless of whether they have a racial impact on admissions, because they contribute to a cronyism that shifts the focus from the individual’s merits to the school’s interest...
Democrats thought they would pick up a seat in Alabama, but they may lose the one Alabama seat they currently have....
Statement by Dean of Berkeley Law School shows how affirmative action continues but has gone underground in states like California where it is banned, a phenomenon we will see nationally after the Supreme Court's Harvard/UNC decision....
"JUSTICE JACKSON’s race-infused world view falls flat at each step...
Today's decision was a major achievement, don't get me wrong. But the battle is just getting started to enforce this victory for equal protection....
Chief Justice Roberts for the 6-3 majority: "The race-based admissions systems that respondents employ also fail to comply with the twin commands of the Equal Protection Clause that race may never be used as a “negative” and that it may not operate as a stereotype"...
EPP “will not allow discrimination on the basis of race or color to go unnoticed or unchallenged, particularly at major government institutions such as the SUNY system. We make no exceptions for law schools, which must abide by the same laws as apply to others.”...
Majority Opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts: "The Elections Clause does not insulate state legislatures from the ordinary exercise of state judicial review." Thomas, Gorsuch, and Alito dissented....
The audio makes clear that Trump had a specific document in his hand prepared by the Defense Department that was still secret and had not been declassified by him, contrary to his denial in an Bret Baier interview that he just had a stack of...
"The Government's Motion does not explain why filing the list with the Court is necessary; it does not offer a particularized basis to justify sealing the list from public view; it does not explain why partial sealing, redaction, or means other than sealing are unavailable...
Despite denials from Merrick Garland and US Atty David Weiss, lawyer for whistleblower Gary Shapley writes: "In an October 7, 2022, meeting at the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Attorney David Weiss told six witnesses he did not have authority to charge in other districts...
Please ignore the people who are claiming that it reflects that the government is afraid to present its case, or that it thinks the case is imploding. And most of all, please ignore the conspiracy theorists who construct elaborate arguments and theories around it and...
Was Joe by the side of Hunter when Hunter threatened future retaliation if a Chinese businessman did not pay up? "I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled…"...
