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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.

Following the coverage of the Massachusetts Senate special election the past few weeks meant I had to read The Boston Globe online.Much of The Globe's coverage was geared towards gaming the election for Martha Coakley, including the disingenuous announcement on election morning that the race...

Advice to Democrats. The "progressive" agenda is not to blame. Obama is not to blame.All really would have been well had Martha Coakley achieved Obama's numbers (duh), according to John Cole at Balloon-Juice:I know a lot of you are really upset about the loss, but...

Another in the "how do they think this stuff up" category. Guess who were the biggest losers in the Massachusetts Senate special election yesterday. The people of Bangladesh, according to Matthew Yglesias:Who’s going to gain and who’s going to lose if Scott Brown becomes...

We did it. I'm too tired to give a full account of the past six weeks, that will happen in the coming days.Tonight we did what the pundits were saying, just days ago, was impossible. But only because they didn't understand the anger...

If you want to put longer comments through here, in a place they will be more permanent, put them in as a Comment to this post.  Please keep the short, rahrah stuff for the live feed!  Thanks.--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

There. I said it and I put it on the internet. Now get out and vote on Tuesday, for Scott Brown. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlfGjGBrNKg] h/t Randy Haddock Update: Olbermann should be mocked for the pathetic clown he has become, a joke of a person dragging down his network: The Daily...

Pictures from tonights Hometown Rally in Wrentham, Massachusetts (from our on-the-spot "correspondent" a/k/a my wife).  Join me for some live blogging on Tuesday, when I'll have pics, tweets, and other reports from many people on the ground in Massachusetts.Scott Brown's Children Arianna and Ayla (above)-------------------------------------------- Follow...

CNN Audience Interaction Producer Eric Kuhn is all over this election, a step ahead of the rest of us, GOP candidate dominates social networking in Massachusetts:On the eve of the Massachusetts special election Tuesday to replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Republican candidate has...

This blog will go "live" tomorrow, starting in the morning, following the developments in the Massachusetts Senate special election.Assuming the technology works (!), I'll have a live window in which people can see my posts and comment in real time (note to trolls, I still...

Because it's not the hand of one of those truck-driving Fenway Park fans: (Image via NY Times) -------------------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter and Facebook ...

By now, the hideous rape mailer sent out by the Massachusetts Democratic Party in support of Martha Coakley has been called out by commentators on the right and left as one of the more heinous tactics in the tawdry annals of American politics.Coakley has refused...

Okay, it's not Jane Hamsher (who has not responded to my Open Letter), but another blogger at Firedoglake is calling for progressives to oppose Martha Coakley, Progressives, please help defeat Coakley: It is very important that progressives help defeat Coakley. Please read my explanation. The...

PPP has just released its final poll of the Massachusetts Senate special election, and PPP gives Scott Brown a 5 point advantage, 51-46:Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 51-46 in our final Massachusetts Senate poll, an advantage that is within the margin of error for the...

Not by choice, but by circumstance and the weight of history, this blog has become a "theme blog" in the past few weeks. The present theme will end Tuesday night, with some necessary clean up depending upon the results.What's next?--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

Since Coakley supporters appear willing to believe anything. (Even a parody by TheNoseOnYourFace shop.)[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsr0BP6Uk3c]--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

Yesterday, Blue Mass Group posted a misleadingly edited interview with Scott Brown in which Brown, when questioned, said he didn't know if Barack Obama's mother was married when Obama was born. That expression of lack of knowledge has led to full meltdown in the left-wing...