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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.

Nate Silver, soon to be blogging at The New York Times, is not waiting for The Daily Caller to expose more e-mails from the Journolist, in which Silver participated.So Silver is taking preemptive action to explain his involvement (emphasis mine):I made on the order of...

Ezra Klein, who organized the Journolist and now blogs at The Washington Post, declares that the expose by The Daily Caller has descended from tragedy into farce.The proof? Klein feels that The Daily Caller is not disclosing enough of the e-mails, which Klein feels would...

Such is now demanded by the NAACP in the Shirley Sherrod matter.You remember her. She's the Department of Agriculture person who, at an NAACP meeting in March, told a story about how 20 plus years ago she had discriminated against a white farmer because he...

The State of Arizona has filed its opposition to the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice seeking an injunction preventing Arizona S.B. 1070 from taking effect on July 29.The hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction is set for July 22 at 1:30 p.m.Here...

Another Black Conservative has the best observation (h/t Jim Treacher) on Spencer Ackerman's suggestion that other journalists and bloggers make up charges of racism to help Obama's campaign (emphasis mine): What is astounding is that none on the listsev objects to making up racism, they...

Those are not my words. Those are the words of Democratic Rhode Island General Treasurer, and candidate for Governor, Frank Caprio. As reported by The Providence Journal:Within a year, the taxpayer cost of providing public employee pensions will increase again — and substantially —...

I'll admit it, I was wrong about The Daily Caller when I called it a failure several months ago.In the past months The Daily Caller has done a good job on a variety of issues, particularly exposing the Journolist, a group of liberal mainstream media...

Jon Ralston, a Nevada journalist, has announced the death of Sharron Angle's campaign.Do not believe it. Not for a second.I don't know Ralston, other than watching him interview Angle and Harry Reid. My impression is that he is very keyed into Nevada politics, but he...

Chalk this one up to the category of jobs destroyed by Obama (emphasis mine):The Obama administration’s push to accelerate General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC dealership closings, aimed at helping the companies compete, may not have been necessary and added to unemployment, a U.S....

Harry Reid, having brought you the Stimulus Plan and Obamacare, now is set to push cap-and-trade legislation before Congress goes into recess: Senate and House Democrats are headed for a clash this week over funding for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, as Senate Majority Leader Harry...

My, my, how the Democratic Party -- or at least certain "elements" -- could be portrayed as racist if Think Progress cut and pasted some of this material the way it does to the Tea Party movement:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FIBJt-c2o0][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM19YOqs7hU][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgQsRIANKUk]Think Progress has such great researchers, I'm sure they'll...

If you were voting:Should Elena Kagan be confirmed?YesNo, but Republicans should NOT filibusterNo, and Republicans should filibuster pollcode.com free polls--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube...

We really do need wealthy people, after all. Wealthy Reduce Buying in a Blow to the Recovery:The economic recovery has been helped in large part by the spending of the most affluent. Now, even the rich appear to be tightening their belts.Late last year, the...

There were two important developments recently in the continued unraveling of the Obamacare public relations BS.First, the Obama administration cemented its legal position that the health care mandate is a tax, which means that Obama is raising taxes on people making less than $250,000 a...

I've been in Los Angeles for the past couple of days at a conference, and had the pleasure of having dinner at The Grill on the Alley in Beverly Hills.The Grill is a really good steak and seafood house, and the meal was excellent.  Fortunately,...

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:I have a dream.That the week will arrive when the race card will not have been played. And I will have nothing about which to write on a Saturday...

I haven't posted previously on the New Black Panther group voter intimidation controversy. There have been plenty of other things to cover.The issue is significant not so much because two guys stood in front of a polling station with night sticks -- that would be...

Once again, someone is using the username "Legal Insurrection" to post comments elsewhere, this time at FoxNation. For the record, that person is not me, and is not authorized to use the name "Legal Insurrection."The last time, it was as HuffPo, and I convinced...