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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 September 30, 2011 4 Comments

As Kathleen posted earlier, Warren Buffett is backing away from the so-called Buffett Rule, which apparently is not so much a Rule as a stream of consciousness sprinkled with thoughts and afterthoughts. The best thing about the Buffett Rule Non-Rule What Are You Talking About, is...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 30, 2011 48 Comments

According to Juan Williams, Christie only will get in if it looks like Palin is getting in, setting himself up as the anti-Palin, since she would be unstoppable against the current field: What will it take to get Chris  Christie to say yes and run for...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 30, 2011 39 Comments

From David Dayen at Firedoglake: We’ll hear this was necessary because of Awlaki’s operational role, and his part played in the Fort Hood massacre and the Christmas Day bombing attempt.  In reality, many experts saw Awlaki as a public figurehead, a man who could speak in...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 30, 2011 1 Comment

Seen on a GMC Yukon XL, from reader Danelle, who commented: And El Paso is a Blue County! It's a little fuzzy, but there are some good ones: ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 29, 2011 19 Comments

The government should have just taken over the banking sector, so we could avoid things like this, The End Of Free Checking? On Sat., Oct. 1, new regulations from the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul go into effect on debit cards. Specifically, they impose price controls on “interchange...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 29, 2011 14 Comments

This could not wait for a bumper sticker post, and anyway, no bumper stickers were involved, Anti-Obama sign in Uptown neighborhood draws controversy (h/t reader Leland): NEW ORLEANS -- There are several political signs attracting all kinds of attention in one Uptown neighborhood. On Wednesday, crowds gathered at the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 29, 2011 21 Comments

Another excellent conservative blog is lost. I've read and linked to the Blog Prof pretty much since I started Legal Insurrection.  In fact, we started our blogs around the same time, and we even picked a similar Blogger template and color scheme (for those of you...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 28, 2011 45 Comments

What's doing? Palin's appearance on Greta last night certainly leaves the impression she's not running, and the reasons she articulated may very well be what she is thinking, not just cover talk: If someone doesn't deeply want it, they should not run. Chris Christie (regardless of his...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 28, 2011 8 Comments

From Caroline Glick, in a must read post: It's my prayer for coming year that US Jewish community will act with the majority of their fellow Americans to defend Israel. What's most stunning is that such a prayer even is needed. Update: I should have pointed out that...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 28, 2011 6 Comments

No one could have seen this coming. Via The Telegraph: Diplomatic efforts are under way to revive six-nation talks on the North's nuclear disarmament. South Korea and the United States have held preparatory  discussions with the North since July. But Peter Hughes said senior officials there had told...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 28, 2011 21 Comments

At a recent Obama campaign event masquerading as a town hall, an ex-Google executive begged Obama to raise his taxes, to which Obama responded with an Elizabeth Warren-like argument: It turns out the guy was a plant by a group called the Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 28, 2011 8 Comments

Obama gave a good speech at the U.N. last week, I credited him with that. But his Israel policy still encourages Palestinian intransigence, as evidenced by his demands that Israel cease building new housing units in the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo.  Gilo occupies a strategic hilltop...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 28, 2011 14 Comments

On Saturday night Morgan Freeman was the winner of the first ever Saturday Night Card Game Readers' Choice Award, for his rant on the Piers Morgan show about Tea Party racism. Now a Tea Party activist has written Freeman an open letter inviting Freeman to a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 28, 2011 5 Comments

This van was spotted in Clear Brook, Virginia by the husband of frequent commenter DINORightMarie. The van was covered on multiple sides, so we'll split it into two posts.  Here's the full rear view, followed by an enlargement of my favorite: ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 27, 2011 15 Comments

Self-made millonaire or billionaire, and now most hated person at Firedoglake, Ted Leonsis wants Obama to stop with the class warfare: Someone needs to talk our President down off of this rhetoric about good vs. evil; about two classes and math. Our country was founded on the premise...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 27, 2011 18 Comments

ABC has an exclusive: video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player Some exclusive. In fact, I ran a post on it earlier this month, Let the Libya “unexpected” consequences begin: Such as a “no fly zone” over all of northern Africa, spreading across the globe, because while we broke Muammar Gaddafi’s...

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