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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.

From a reader: Took this photo on my way to work this morning -- in Saratoga, California, a suburb of Silicon Valley, no less! It probably doesn't mean California is in play, but I think it's an indicator of Obama's diminishing popularity here. I thought LI...

Not the destruction in September 2007 of the nuke facility likely being built with the help of the Norks. Via Jerusalem Post, a story I had not heard before, Syria’s chemical weapons program has been focus of Israeli intelligence operations since the mid-1970s. It was July 2007...

Who asked a question. And the MSM is going wild on Twitter. Here's the offense: The "offender" was Neil Munro from The Daily Caller. Updates: NBC has now given reporter/heckler more coverage than Fast & Furious gunrunning scandal.— Dan Curry (@dancurry) June 15, 2012 Neil Munro is now #1 trend on...

Last night Patterico reminded us Aaron Walker Still Silent: Outlaw judge Cornelius Vaughey’s ruling remains in effect. Aaron cannot truthfully blog about public figure Brett Kimberlin without violating a judge’s blatantly unconstitutional prior restraint of his speech. Just thought I’d mention that. Since it’s still true. While Walker...

Rick Santorum had a Google problem. And so does Elizabeth Warren, although of a different nature. Elizabeth Warren wants her message to be about evil factory owners who live off of others, and the middle class which is being"hammered" (her new favorite word). Whatever her messaging intends to...

So much for the rule of law.  This guy wants reelection, so to hell with the Congress. Via Associated Press: The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding...

From reader Peggy: For Your Collection. Spotted in the parking lot of a veterinary specialists' office building in North Dallas. ...

Rhode Island is being crushed by pension debt, our cities are suffocating, we're driving businesses away with regulatory minutiae, and we're hemorrhaging young people.  Oh, and we just threw away up to $75 million on a video game company run by a former baseball player. So...

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) earned a special place in the annals of odious Senatorial speeches when, on the eve of the Obamacare vote in the Senate in December 2009, he invoked Kristallnacht and lynchings when speaking of opponents of Obamacare: History cautions us of the excesses to which these malignant,...

There are times it's good just to be a spectator. I'm not going to try to sort this out, I'll just note that the "Stop Rush" movement has turned on one of its most prized Twitter activists, or that activist has turned on it, depending who...

No one could have seen this coming.  This could be the moment when Obama's campaign stopped receding. Sandra Fluke endorses Obama in an op-ed at CNN.com (because MSNBC.com was not available): Obama is committed to rebuilding our economy upon the values of fairness and opportunity and the...

A number of readers have sent me links or images of a Father's Day promotion Obama is running to scoop up e-mail addresses for fundraising. Here's an image sent by reader Bronwyn as it appeared at Real Clear Politics: Reader John saw a simlar ad at The NY...

Yesterday I posted about Joe Scarborough bad-mouthing bloggers sitting in the basement eating Cheetos. Last night Michelle Malkin encountered the same attitude from Juan Williams (jump ahead to 6:45 if you don't have much time)(via HotAir): I'll tell you what Michelle, I'm a real reporter, not a blogger out in the...

@SGLawrence has escaped the #TwitterGulag! Thanks to everyone who sent tweets. Special thanks to Michelle Malkin and her Twitchy team for their help. I've posted a new Broadcast Tweet letting people know to follow @SGLawrence -- send it out and follow her....