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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 January 05, 2011 8 Comments

Think Progress is a frequent focus here because it is one of the best/worst (depending on your perspective) manipulator of news in the interest of the Obama administration and Democrats.  Think Progress famously was caught creating a misleading anti-Tea Party video.In my experience, Think Progress...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2011 4 Comments

There are all these websites tracking high profile opinion makers like ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2011 1 Comment

I will not mention the entity whose name is banned from these pages by popular vote, even though it appears that at least one of its branches doesn't even want to use its name anymore.I merely will quote an article (emphasis mine):The Coffee Party Ithaca Area changed...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2011 3 Comments

At least one Democrat, and possibly several, are expected to vote in favor of the House bill to repeal Obamacare.So will the media refer to the repeal bill as "bipartisan"?  Or does that description only apply when a handful of Republicans break ranks to join with Democrats?--------------------------------------------Follow...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2011 26 Comments

I previously asked you to tell me about Tim Pawlenty, and I learned a lot.Mitch Daniels also is presented as a conservative with the credentials to unite the base with the establishment without a lot of negatives (other than being conservative, of course).So tell me...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2011 2 Comments

Mr. Get-In-Their-Faces is complaining about divisive and partisan Republicans:President Obama, returning to Washington from his Christmas vacation in Hawaii, urged House and Senate GOP leaders to put partisan politics aside in the name of working to boost the economy.The president said onboard Air Force One...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2011 11 Comments

More dumbed-down talk about the Constitution from Tea Parties liberal columnists, this time Amanda Terkel (formerly of Think Progress) writing at HuffPo with the headline:Scalia: Women Don't Have Constitutional Protection Against Discrimination Gee, Scalia must hate women.Except that the headline is a good example of a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2011 7 Comments

The lame duck rush to ratify the New START Treaty is becoming an example of fools rushing in.One of the sticking points for Republicans opposed to the Treaty (13 Republicans voted in favor of the Treaty) was that the Preamble language seemed to link missile...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2011 4 Comments

Thanks to reader Jeanne from Fort Worth, TX, who traveled to root for TCU in the Rose Bowl, and who snapped this photo of the Reagan Float in the Rose Bowl Parade.  I've seen other photos of the float, but I think this side shot...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2011 18 Comments

There is a nice bit of revisionist and self-congratulatory history at FrumForum, in a piece titled How Christine O'Donnell Brought Down The Delaware GOP.I'll save you the trouble and high blood pressure of reading the article, here's the story line:Christine O'Donnell singlehandedly caused Republicans down...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2011 10 Comments

The Democratic leadership in the Senate has told Republicans in the House not to bother with repeal of Obamacare, any repeal bill will not get past the Senate.That's old news, and certainly no reason not to pass legislation in the House.There are several vulnerable Democratic...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2011 5 Comments

I was going to hold off on the bumper sticker photo below, sent to me by a reader in Ohio.But seeing James Delingpole's column, Q. Why did God give liberals annoying, whiny voices?, caused me to move it forward.  I particularly like the bumper stickers "Stop Global...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2011 8 Comments

The nation's "debt ceiling" will need to be raised early in the next Congress to accomodate the new reality of trillion-dollar-plus annual deficits.The possibility that the Republican House will refuse to raise the debt ceiling is the favorite topic of discussion in the media and...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 02, 2011 11 Comments

There are many cheap tricks used against bloggers.Perhaps the most common is to attribute the views expressed in comments to the blogger.  The problem there is that the nature of a comment section is to give people other than the blogger the chance to express an opinion,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 02, 2011 6 Comments

The video Fiddler on the Roof - You Got Served Trailer Mash-Up was part of a student film editing project.  He should get an A+:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W7umbazJFM?fs=1](h/t Israel Matzav)--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 02, 2011 3 Comments

The view on a reader's street in Ohio:--------------------------------------------Related Posts:Bumper Stickers - The SeriesFollow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeVisit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 02, 2011 7 Comments

"Generational Theft" is a term frequently used to describe the Democrats purchase of current entitlements and payouts to politically connected groups using borrowed money.  The consequences of these type of actions can be seen in Europe, where the younger generation is left hopeless.I focused on Greece...

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