Image 01 Image 03

Author: William A. Jacobson

Profile photo

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.

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain: Yesterday, Sam Stein, a lead reporter and blogger for HuffPo, ran a post titled Group Sends Racially-Tinged Mailer Targeting Bill Halter In Arkansas Senate Race: The already racially-tinged attacks being...

The fiscal equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome:A term used to describe a paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein government officials express adulation and have positive feelings toward unsustainable union contracts that appear irrational in light of the danger or risk posed by such contracts to the government.Our politicians...

It's like a class reunion. My law school classmate Elliot Spitzer swears he didn't date Elena Kagan. Now my classmate Ruth Marcus swears Kagan is not gay (and neither is Ruth, she makes sure to note).The main point of Ruth's column is that it's tough...

So says Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (remember her?), regarding the arrests in Boston of possible Times Square bombing suspects on immigration charges.As reported by Where Are My Keys blog, via Howie Carr:The question at the press conference at the State House yesterday was, Why...

This attitude has upset some people:(via HotAir via Ace) Christie must be doing something right if people already are trying to boycott him (via TaxProf):Gov. Chris Christie will remain the speaker at Seton Hall University School of Law’s graduation ceremony later this month despite a...

The NY Daily News headline reads: After beating up Wall Street 'fat cats,' President Obama ready to take their money in NY fund-raiser:President Obama has been happy to beat up on Wall Street "fat cats," but tonight he'll be even happier to take their money.The...

It must be scary to be who they are.One day, we are totalitarian control freaks who want to post police at every ice cream shop to check for papers.The next day, we are pseudo-anarchists who want no government at all.Today, apparently, we are anarchists in...

Not Tea Partiers, gun nuts, wingnuts, NASCAR dads and moms, or bitter clingers.Not loony-lefties, nutroots, socialist revolutionaries, or Kos-sacks.No, there is a gathering crowd with a thirst for revenge, who will not be satisfied unless and until we get on the Supreme Court...

The ugly truth behind the anti-Israel campus movement lies just below the surface, but it needs to be coaxed out.Left-wing academics and student groups, who claim only to care about human rights, do not want to admit that they are in political bed with rabidly...

Just ask Jack McConnell, who appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.McConnell has been nominated by Rhode Island Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (for whom McConnell used to work) and Jack Reed for an open seat on the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island.McConnell made a fortune...

As written by Rachel Porto, 23, widow of Cpl Jonathan Daniel Porto.As posted in The Washington Post on Mother's Day:A cassette tape is waiting for me. It sits in a small bubble mailer on my night table. It stares at me when I walk in...

From my favorite political scientist (who lists an outdated place of employment in his post bio)[see update], Can Kagan Win Over Liberals?:Recently, I argued that President Barack Obama should take advantage of the unusually favorable political situation to appoint a strong, proven liberal to replace...

The Obama administration is beginning to push back against the accusation by four law professors that Elena Kagan had a discriminatory hiring record while Dean of Harvard Law School.I highlighted these claims -- and the paucity of logic behind them -- in my prior post,...

And by "no one" I mean only the politicians who voted for Obamacare.Because they willingly ignored warnings that they were selling public policy based on phony numbers: Congressional Budget Office estimates released Tuesday predict the health care overhaul will likely cost about $115 billion more...

Prediction - The internet will not slow down after the November election:Sarah Palin's book, 'America By Heart,' out Nov. 23.Because Palin's new book will cause the entire internet to collapse long before the election:Sarah Palin's New Book. Get the Dramamine.Since the book will be about...

On Monday I posted about Elena Kagan's written answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee in connection with her nomination for Solicitor General. I noted that while Kagan evaded and talked around many questions, which is all too typical for a nominee, Kagan did not avoid the...

Phew:We'd heard the former governor actually dated Kagan when they were students at Harvard, but a spokeswoman for Spitzer denied any love connection. "They have been good friends since 1977 -- when they were college freshmen. They never dated," said Spitzer's rep.Not that there would...

I have the answer to the question of why we get conservative rock stars nominated for the Supreme Court, while they get groupies.Here it is:So keep banging the spoon on the high chair.--------------------------------------------Related Posts:The Great Deception of 2008And Now We Stereotype Blacks As LiberalsFollow me...