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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 April 15, 2012 19 Comments

Via Jerusalem Post: Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch told reporters at the airport Sunday, "As you can see, things are working normally at Ben-Gurion." The minister said the attempts by pro-Palestinian activists to enter Israel as part of the "flytilla" protest were still at their peak and...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 15, 2012 50 Comments

Put aside, for the moment, the snotty and snide aspect of Hilary Rosen's comment that Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life." Put aside, for the moment, the psychological need of liberal female pundits to belittle a woman who chose a different path in life, while the person...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 14, 2012 57 Comments

I think this is a fair description of the racial narrative of the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman: George Zimmerman (1) shot Trayvon Martin (2) because a black teenager in a hoodie is frightening (3) to whites, as proven by (4) Zimmerman's description of Martin as suspicious...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 14, 2012 46 Comments

Thanks to Charlie Sykes for reminding us that Scott Walker is not the only target in the June 5 Wisconsin recall elections: Other conservative moms have been subjected sexist attacks, but few have had to endure the volume of vile epithets raw hate directed at Becky. She has...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 14, 2012 38 Comments

Joel Brinkley, currently a Professor at Stanford who spent most of his career as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, has a column in the San Francisco Chronicle titled Islamists in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia not democratic. The thesis of the column is that Westerners who took...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 14, 2012 41 Comments

It always ends badly: A commenter using the pseudonym “Milwaukeean” has been active here for the past couple of weeks regarding the various court and other disputes in Wisconsin. Milwaukeean didn’t seem to cross the line from dissenter to troll, made some good points at times, and...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 14, 2012 18 Comments

I'm not sure of what. From reader Steve, who writes: From a gentrified rural nursery in the Seattle metro area. ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 13, 2012 12 Comments

The Salt Lake Tribune released a poll showing that all three Republicans contending against incumbent Democrat Jim Matheson in the new Utah-04 district are competitive with Matheson. This is particularly significant for Mia B. Love (see my prior profile) since the main argument for her Republican...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 13, 2012 6 Comments

Richard Lugar has had a big bank account and fundraising prowess going for him in defense of the May 8 primary challenge from Richard Mourdock. Lugar still has the larger bank account by a lot, but Mourdock out-raised Lugar in the 1st Quarter of 2012, according...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 13, 2012 25 Comments

Flytilla 2012 is another stunt in which anti-Israeli activists from Western countries will attempt the air equivalent of the Gaza Flotilla, arriving en masse at Israel's Ben Gurian airport, ostensibly to make their way to the West Bank. In reality, it is a publicity stunt done in...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 13, 2012 103 Comments

I disagree with most of what Matt Lewis says in his post The triumph of political games: 7 reasons to reject ‘Rosengate’: The flap over Hillary Rosen’s comments  disparaging stay-at-home-moms like Ann Romney has gotten a  lot of play. I’ve been on the record (okay, on...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 13, 2012 16 Comments

Starting next week, Anne Sorock will begin posting here. You may remember Anne from my post, When did you decide to become politically active? I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago of meeting with Anne Sorock and Yvonne Ralsky, co-founders of The Frontier Lab. The Frontier...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 13, 2012 5 Comments

This is so 2008.  I bet many of the yutes don't know what it's about, and not knowing the source, probably think the owner of the car is racist for describing himself as a "typical white person." What's most surprising is to see this in Newton Center, MA, which...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 12, 2012 46 Comments

One of hotest topics of argument has been whether George Zimmerman said "f-ing coons" under his breath on the 911 tape.  The left-blogosphere has used the alleged racial epithet endlessly to paint this as a racially motivated hate crime. CNN used three different audio experts to...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 12, 2012 7 Comments

things we hold dear: Allen West -- They edited the tape, of course. Religion -- Vanderbilt tells Catholic Students To Change Name. Holocaust remembrance. Republicans -- We're rooting for failure again. Israel -- what do 74 Dems have in common? and some things we don't hold dear Their diversity-baiting. More Netural administration of justice,...

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