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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 14, 2010 27 Comments

Christine O'Donnell just won the Delaware Primary.Put the rancor of the past couple of weeks behind us, and unite behind her and other Republicans.And get to work (tomorrow, you can celebrate tonight if you want).Remember everything that has motivated us the past year.  Because they...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2010 13 Comments

Fox News has released a set of polls of likely voters, including in the Nevada Senate race, showing Sharron Angle up a point, 45-44.  This is consistent with several recent polls showing the race a dead heat:Angle drew 45 percent support, while Reid took in 44...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2010 5 Comments

Meme of the Day:Christine O'Donnell is polling worse than a month ago, which proves that all of our attacks on her for the past month which drove down her numbers were justified.--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2010 0 Comments

This year, the backbone of the conservative movement is provided by the ladies, who are not for turning.  Unlike our men.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ-M0KEFm9I?fs=1]--------------------------------------------Related Posts:The Party of Whatever Nuts and Sluts In DelawareFollow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2010 13 Comments

Because not having an ideological purity test means we must have no test at all, no standards, no principles.All that matters is the long shot possibility that if the planets are in alignment and the cards all fall into place in every Senate race across...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2010 11 Comments

September 1972.  Worth remembering.  I'll bet most of our children never heard of it, because we don't teach such things anymore.History and terrorism started with the election of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nOnRbTlWs0?fs=1][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTqZPKZ4_wk?fs=1]--------------------------------------------Related Posts:It's al-Quds Day at WaPo (feat. George Bisharat) What Does The...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2010 6 Comments

Spotted by a reader in Tampa, Florida:Update 9-15-2010:  Thanks to reader Sylvia for e-mailing me this link to an article about the store (it is in St. Peterburg, not Tampa):It's Barack Obama's 100th day as president of an economically depressed country. It's Mahmoud's 169th day as...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2010 33 Comments

The "nuts and sluts" defense is a common employment law tactic whenever a female employee brings a claim.  It doesn't matter what the claim is, the defense -- after the usual legal mumbo jumbo -- will be something like this:"She's nuts.  And by the way,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2010 4 Comments

I previously have highlighted the candidacy of Mike Stopa, running in the Republican primary for Congress in the MA-03 District.  The primary is this Tuesday, September 14.If there are any voters in MA-03 reading, please get out and vote for Stopa.  And tell others.Whoever runs...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2010 12 Comments

Janet Daley at The Telegraph in Britain (h/t POWIP) has an interesting column on anti-Americanism in Europe, and how the Europeans just don't understand why we feel so strongly about our Constitution and personal freedoms.Daley makes some good points, but I particularly liked this portion of the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 11, 2010 5 Comments

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:Usually, on Saturday nights I focus on the people who tear us apart by injecting race into politics, by manipulating our feelings, by seeking political gain from the worst...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 11, 2010 2 Comments

I saw this coming.A couple of weeks after her Nevada Senate primary victory, Sharron Angle appeared on journalist John Ralston's television show.  Ralston apparently is one of the most prominent political reporters in Nevada.At the time, this was my first introduction to Ralston.  Here was how I observed...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 11, 2010 13 Comments

I have written many times before about the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization to which I contributed for many years back in the late 1970s and 1980s, when SPLC was fighting Klan groups.In the past two decades, however, after the Klan ceased to be a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 10, 2010 4 Comments

On June 17, when Obama "informed" BP how much money it would have to set aside in a claims fund, I cautioned as follows:If the Constitution means nothing to you, and all you want is retribution, you will be left very unsatisfied.The claims procedures apparently...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 10, 2010 27 Comments

I really hope my high school classmates don't plan to burn any Korans, or my name may be in a headline like this:Rush Limbaugh, Pastor Terry Jones Were High School ClassmatesTerry Jones, the Florida pastor threatening to burn a Koran tomorrow on the anniversary of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 10, 2010 5 Comments

The video of my interview last Wednesday with Glenn Reynolds on InstaVision is available at Instapundit (you will have to register with PJTV to watch it, but it's free).  We covered some of my background in blogging, the Scott Brown race, the Tea Party movement, and...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 10, 2010 5 Comments

I took yesterday off from blogging, and of course the big news broke that the Pastor in Florida was not going to set the world on fire (we think, not sure, he'll let us know for sure eventually) this Saturday by burning a load of...

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