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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 April 07, 2010 12 Comments

In 1940, the Soviet Union executed 22,000 Polish officers in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk, Russia.The mass grave was discovered in 1943 by invading German troops, but the Soviet propaganda machine create the mythology that the massacre was committed by the Nazis:In late 1943, as...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 06, 2010 10 Comments

Elections have been set in Great Britain for May 6, pitting the Labour Party (headed by Obama-wannabe Prime Minister Gordon Brown) against the Conservative Party ("Tories") (headed by David Cameron).The election is shaping up as traditional nanny-state government (Labour) against less big government (Tories), echoing...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 06, 2010 12 Comments

The Obama administration's new nuclear policy, to which I alerted readers several days ago and again yesterday, contains a very curious doctrine. As reported by Jake Tapper:In the [Nuclear Policy] Review, the US government will pledge to refrain from using nuclear weapons to attack any...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 05, 2010 4 Comments

Wait for it. The next bailout will be for hospitals devastated by cut-backs as a result of Obamacare. In Rhode Island, the prognosis already is not good for the survival of hospitals already struggling financially, which may be pushed over the brink. As...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 05, 2010 7 Comments

Many of the criticisms of Michael Steele have been unjustified.The hoopla over $2,000 spent by an RNC staffer at a "sex-themed" club without Steele's knowledge or permission, may have made interesting headlines, but it was not probative of Steele's Chairmanship of the RNC.Today, however, Steele...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 05, 2010 2 Comments

in the Democratic party, mainstream media and nutroots who insist that everyone who opposes Obama's agenda is an extremist, and that the Tea Parties are the extreme of the extreme:Gallup - Tea Partiers Are Fairly Mainstream in Their DemographicsThe Hill - Four in 10 Tea...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 05, 2010 3 Comments

Frank Rich has been at the lead of the cabal of Democratic operatives, mainstream media columnists and left-wing bloggers who have engaged in a deliberate year-long smear campaign to paint opposition to Obama's agenda as inherently racist.Rich's most recent column, It’s a Bird, It’s a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 04, 2010 7 Comments

There is plenty of speculation that the Chinese will agree to, or at least not block, new sanctions on Iran. The Obama administration stands ready to claim the credit, but if China comes around, it may be the threat of unilateral Israeli action which made...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 04, 2010 32 Comments

I knew it would happen, and today it did.I received a call from a former client and friend, a guy in his late 70s, who was a huge Obama supporter and a fairly mainstream liberal and Democrat. In the past my friend very much enjoyed...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 03, 2010 1 Comment

The NY Times ran an article yesterday about the growth of unpaid internships, Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say:With job openings scarce for young people, the number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading federal and state regulators to worry...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 03, 2010 17 Comments

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:As those of you who follow this blog know, almost every Saturday I highlight the use of the race card for political purposes.The use of the race card for...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 03, 2010 6 Comments

The jobs numbers released yesterday were nothing to cheer. Strip out the temporary hiring of Census workers, and a weather-related adjustment from February, and there was almost no net job growth. As the stagnant 9.7% overall jobless rate reflected, there was no meaningful job...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 02, 2010 11 Comments

Another day, some more agitation by the Obama administration and Agitprop by the mainstream media, this time directed by Obama himself at Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk radio hosts.This country is boiling over, after over a year of a strategy of crazy, in which...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 02, 2010 2 Comments

McClatchy reporter William Douglas was instrumental in spreading the claim that protesters at the Capitol shouted racial epithets at Congressmen.As Jack Cashill at American Thinker documents, Douglas either was a speed writer of epic proportions, or Douglas pre-wrote much of the article in advance. You...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 02, 2010 1 Comment

"The fiercely pro-Israeli Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was among the guests at the controversy-filled Arab League summit in Libya with the supposed aim of forming a unified strategy against Tel Aviv's illegal settlement plans in Palestinian territories.At one point, according to reports, Berlusconi, whose country...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 02, 2010 7 Comments

Keep moving, nothing to see here: Now Mr Obama is expected to rule out the development of new weapons systems — despite reservations from the military, which is mindful that Russia and China are modernising and expanding their nuclear forces respectively. He will also drop...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 01, 2010 15 Comments

Thanks to a reader for calling my attention to the ongoing spasms of vindictiveness in the U.S. policy towards Honduras.As noted in numerous posts here, the U.S. tried to force the return to power of Chavista and wannabe President-for-Life Manuel Zelaya. Only through the...

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