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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.

A new poll released in my home district (RI-01) confirms what I have been telling you for weeks, this race is winnable for Republican John Loughlin.  As reported by The Providence Journal:For much of the campaign season, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline has raised much...

I'm not buying all the phony expressions of outrage from left-bloggers and pundits over the Gawker article about Christine O'Donnell.From the moment she won the primary, O'Donnell was sexualized by the left with the excuse being O'Donnell's 1996 video regarding masturbation.  That 14-year old tape has...

Democrats across the country have been engaged in various deceptive actions to siphon votes from conservative Republican candidates.In New Jersey, a Democratic candidate helped a phony Tea Party candidate get on the ballot, and the Democratic Party has a nationwide "divide and conquer" strategy of lending support...

They were born that way.  They didn't choose it; no one would make such a choice.  It's not a lifestyle.  They are entitled to the same protected status as other recognized minority groups.  While the framers of the 14th Amendment may not have had them...

Time to bring it home...

The New Dem Low is not lowest anymore.These really are shameless evil people, I Had a One-Night Stand With Christine O'Donnell, complete with anatomical descriptions.--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube...

Those anti-pot folks are really just anti-gay bigots anyway, via AlterNet:"Predictably, the anti-pot forces have brought everything they have — mostly hyperbole, in other words — to the battle. To hear them tell it, California’s very future is at stake, and not only that but perhaps...

Wow, Joe Sestak's internal polling must be really awful for him to start running commercials (h/t Gateway Pundit via HotAir) in which he holds up a sack of dog poop to symbolize all the troubles he's had as a Democrat picking up after Republicans.How desperate.  A...

Todd Young is on my Top 10 List, running against incumbent Baron Hill in Indiana-09 district.Hill embodies the arrogance which has characterized Democratic Party control of Congress for the past several years:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtmgQ2W3lhM?fs=1]New polling shows that the race is a toss-up.  Via The Hill, Rep. Baron...

My first blog post was October 12, 2008, Obama is "Door No. 2":As in Let's Make a Deal, choosing Door No. 2 carries great risks. So does choosing Obama.Obama may be a post-racial healer, or he may be someone who carefully uses race and false...

I will not repeat all the facts in my prior posts, you are familiar by now with the scenario.  Let's just say my instincts were right on this one. As I suspected, provocateur Lauren Valle was not so innocent. In an amazing videotape obtained by Redstate, Valle is shown...

The Providence Journal, the only statewide daily newspaper in Rhode Island which dominates news coverage, has endorsed Democrat David Cicilline for Congress in the RI-01 District, running against John Loughlin.  As my readers know, this is my home district and I support Loughlin.Unfortunately, the PolitiFact feature...

Add the race in NY-24 to the list of my Top 10 races (also RI-01 and NY-22) which are tightening in the final two weeks.From CQ Politics, Richard Hanna has pulled within 5 points of Democrat incumbent Michael Arcuri, down from 8 points just a...

Via Amanda Terkel (of Think Progress fame) writing at HuffPo:Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D), first elected to Congress in 1992, hasn't seen a tough re-election battle since 1994, the year of the Republican revolution that swept so many Democrats out of power. He has been a...

The fiasco of Obama's visit to Rhode Island -- which led Frank Caprio, the Democratic candidate for Governor, to tell Obama to "shove" his endorsement -- holds tremendous potential to split the Democratic base.Obama came to Rhode Island to raise funds for the national Democratic...

The left-blogosphere and punditry have been hoping for right-wing political violence for two years now with no success.  From Bill Sparkman to countless others, these people have been waiting for the fire to justify all the smoke they have been blowing about "extremist" and "crazy"...

I think a lot of conservatives are afraid to put bumper stickers on their cars for fear of vandalism.  Call it the "driving while conservative" phenomenon; or maybe "parking while conservative."Vandalism of McCain signs, and houses/car bearing those signs, was widespread during the 2008 campaign. ...

Prior to the Kentucky Senate debate in Paducah last night, a woman with a history of politically-inspired vandalism who was dressed in disguise approached Rand Paul to present him with a Move-On.org "award," and was pulled to the ground by Paul supporters, one of whom needlessly...