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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 July 18, 2011 44 Comments

I'm only able to follow today's debt ceiling posturing and bickering on an infrequent basis.  Looks like Repulicans are looking for a single or double, something along the lines of modest spending cuts with no tax increase, with the 2012 presidential election to be the home run...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 18, 2011 47 Comments

As you know, I'm visiting here.  And one thing I've noticed is that there are quite a few homeless people. Why are the people of San Francisco so heartless?  They must all be Tea Party supporters. Why don't the politicians here care about the poor?  They must be Republicans. How can...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 18, 2011 41 Comments

Apparently not, according to John Hawkins, The slow, painful death of the independent, conservative blogosphere: Sure, there were a few outliers that took off: Hot Air, Redstate, and the Breitbart empire for example, but most conservative blogs have either grown insignificantly, stayed the same size, or...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 18, 2011 7 Comments

Thanks to our very own Matt Knee who spotted this "vehicle" in the parking lot of a Judaica store in California: ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 17, 2011 3 Comments

I have written often about the willingness of Islamists and Leftists to cooperate when it comes to an anti-Israel agenda.  That coalition has expanded its base from Europe and the United States to the birthplace of the Arab Spring: Early this month, the authority in charge...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 17, 2011 16 Comments

If you're wondering why things have been a little slow here, I'm in San Francisco visiting my daughter, who lives near this very tourist-y shot I took at Alamo Sq. Park: If I don't get some really good bumper sticker shots here, I'm going to demand my money...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 17, 2011 26 Comments

I don't talk much about law schools here.   I try not to bring work home, so to speak. But this article at The New York Times, Law School Economics: Ka-Ching!, is generating a lot of buzz: WITH apologies to show business, there’s no business like the business...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 17, 2011 11 Comments

I admit it, I haven't been following the break-up of The Sudan.   But now there is a South Sudan, and it isn't your father's Sudan.  Among other things, South Sudan will be  quick to establish relations with Israel: South Sudan, already recognised by Israel, will forge relations with...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 17, 2011 8 Comments

But we'll try our best. Thanks to frequent commenter DINORightMarie for this photo taken in Virginia: ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 16, 2011 26 Comments

Taking wasted energy from auto traffic and turning it into electricity sounds hard to believe, but these Israeli researchers may be onto something (h/t LukeHandCool): Scientists in Israel say they have invented a way of turning traffic into electricity. The bright sparks at the country's Technion Institute of Technology...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 16, 2011 12 Comments

In late April I documented how the Democratic Party of Wisconsin was running misleading push-calls to people who had signed petitions to recall Democratic State Senator Robert Wirch.  The WisDems were trying to get people to say that they didn't understand what they were signing or...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 16, 2011 21 Comments

Thanks to reader and Cornell grad Nancy who spotted this vehicle at the Dogfish Head Brewing and Eats in Rehoboth, Delaware:   Yes, everything does seem better in the Happy Valley: ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 15, 2011 13 Comments

How bad is it? The President of the United States has been reduced to assuring us by saying: We're not Greece.  We're not Portugal. Funny, didn't Greece say it wasn't Portugal?  And didn't Portugal say it wasn't Greece? I don't like where this is heading....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 15, 2011 20 Comments

We've seen how concern over saggy pants has become an alleged dog-whistle, or something, for racism, or something, in airport security. Now the town of Collinsville, Illinois, has taken it a step further, and is outlawing saggy-pants (h/t reader Mitch): The City Council in the southwestern Illinois...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 15, 2011 1 Comment

Pretty much says what needs to be said when it needs to be said with the tone in which it needs to be said from someone who can get away saying it: ...

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