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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 June 28, 2012 71 Comments

The most disturbing thing about today's decision is not that we lost on the mandate. The majority opinion on the Commerce Clause (the Chief Justice plus the conservative dissenters) was quite good, and vindicated those who mounted an argument as to "inactivity" to the derision...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 41 Comments

On August 14, 2009, I tried to sound the alarm as to where Democrats' health care proposals were heading. At that time I was dealing with the precursors to what became Obamacare.  The congressional language distinguishing the mandate as a penalty and the political arguments that...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 57 Comments

Romney's statement: Obama lied to the American people. Again. He said it wasn't a tax. Obama lies; freedom dies.— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) June 28, 2012 Not taking Congress at its word on penalty is the new judicial restraint #SCOTUSlogic— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) June 28, 2012 SCOTUS to POTUS:...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 198 Comments

Consider this Pep Talk IV. Was it over when Harry Reid pushed Obamacare through at Christmas time in December 2009? Not when voters took to the voting booth and elected Scott Brown. Was it over when Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats were forced to accept the Senate version...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 109 Comments

Was Scalia’s Dissent Originally a Majority Opinion? Scalia’s dissent, at least on first quick perusal, reads like it was originally written as a majority opinion http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2012/06/evidence-that-the-votes-shifted-after-conference-initial-vote-to-declare-mandate-unconstitutional.html (in particular, he consistently refers to Justice Ginsburg’s opinion as “The Dissent”). Back in May, there were rumors floating around...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 9 Comments

... Dread (I'm already preparing Pep Talk IV)...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 12 Comments

Please read this bumper sticker before rendering your decision. From Linda, taken at the Riverwood mansion, Nashville, on June 23: “The right to be left alone—the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by a free people.”— Louis Brandeis, dissenting, OLMSTEAD v. U.S., 277 U.S....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 27, 2012 73 Comments

where will we be? Big day here. Will create an "open" post somewhere around 9:30 a.m. waiting to find out if the Supreme Court Kremlinologists have been right. Or not. Then will follow up with a post detailing my take on the decision. Followed by the House vote to hold...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 27, 2012 27 Comments

Via AP: A federal judge has refused to stop Florida from removing potentially non-U.S. citizens from its rolls. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state to halt the purge, arguing it  was going on too close to a federal election. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said Wednesday...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 27, 2012 9 Comments

Friend of the blog, blogger, and commenter Ric Locke (warlocketx) has bad news on his blog (h/t Instapundit), It’s Lung Cancer: Stage III, inoperable. Median survival prognosis: One year after diagnosis. Which is, as it turns out, the reason I haven’t been accomplishing much, including posting here...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 27, 2012 16 Comments

There seems to be a change in Syria, a worsening of the situation for Assad. I can't tell if this is the turning point, a turning point, or just a bump in Assad's road to staying in power with the military help of Iran, Hezbollah...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 27, 2012 10 Comments

I guess Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson running against Mia Love in the new Utah-04 district is a moderate compared to Nancy Pelosi.  His claim to moderation is that on a small number of key votes he has voted against his party, but not when his vote mattered. Matheson...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2012 99 Comments

Other than the fact that George Will thinks he's a good default pick? I've always liked Jindal, but admittedly I don't follow his day-to-day actions in Louisiana that carefully. He did a good job on the BP spill, doesn't have any known personal problems, has experience as...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2012 47 Comments

If this reopens old wounds, too bad. Rick Santorum's hiding act is wearing thin. Newt is out there all the time helping to pound on the Obama record. The supposedly bitter Newt is proving himself to be the class act his supporters always knew him to be....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2012 27 Comments

Well, this is interesting. The University of Virginia is defending its former (and soon to be again?) President Teresa Sullivan against allegations by a former Rutgers law professor revealed in a Breitbart.com series by Michael Patrick Leahy, concerning a book co-authored with Elizabeth Warren.  Background on...

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