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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 January 17, 2010 28 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 17, 2010 9 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 17, 2010 8 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 17, 2010 11 Comments

If this is true, I may owe the NRSC an apology:In mid-December, the National Republican Senatorial Committee conducted a poll that showed Brown trailing by only 13 points, but it kept the results to itself. Coakley continued operating on the assumption that for all intents...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 17, 2010 15 Comments

The left-wing blogs have been so completely overrun in the Brown-Coakley campaign that they have resorted to making up a phony "birther" controversy in an attempt to gin up a controversy before Tuesday. Blue Mass Group has released a very tightly edited 15-second clip of Scott...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 16, 2010 22 Comments

I posted yesterday about a disgusting mailer used by the Massachusetts Democratic Party to allege that Scott Brown wants rape victims turned away from hospitals.As I explained, the allegation is false, twists out of all reality the legislation Brown proposed on the "morning after pill,"...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 16, 2010 12 Comments

Photos from Scott Brown events Saturday, January 16 (photos to be added throughout the day)Dennis, MA sign rallyBrown in Hyannis (much more here)Not from today, but worth posting, SEIU members for BrownBrown in Plymouth[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGKH7qjnF5w]Brown in Quincy (more here)(400 people in crowd)--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 16, 2010 14 Comments

Martha Coakley flopping gaffe of the day, as reported by the Boston Herald:Shipping giant UPS isn’t amused by a Democratic Party campaign pamphlet attacking Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown that plays off the company’s slogan “What can Brown do for you?”Atlanta-based United Parcel Service, known...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 16, 2010 4 Comments

In prior posts, I noted that Brown was winning, and then had won, the online war. The statistics reflecting Brown's online momentum also were the subject of a post recently at WordStream Internet Marketing Blog. In just the past two days, the numbers have become...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 15, 2010 14 Comments

The Cambridge, Massachusetts police officers association wants to clear up the record. Just because Martha Coakley's husband is a retired Cambridge police officer, a fact which her campaign frequently mentions, they do not want you to think that they actually support Coakley.No, the Cambridge police...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 15, 2010 5 Comments

Martha Coakley has hammered Scott Brown relentlessly with the claim that Brown wanted to permit hospitals to deny emergency contraception to rape victims. As Coakley surely knows, that claim is false.I examined the language of Brown's proposed amendment in a prior post. That amendment provided...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 15, 2010 5 Comments

This is my fourth and final report of my observations at the Scott Brown campaign headquarters. Once again, I visited the Needham headquarters, the same place as for my first two reports.Here's the bottom line: The place is on political fire.In my first visit on...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 15, 2010 12 Comments

Martha Coakley's slap-shots fired at Fenway Park fans and devout Catholics, her vacation in the middle of a special election, her refusal to debate one-on-one, her D.C. lobbyist fundraiser, and her denial that she witnessed the subsequent assault on a reporter, all have people bewildered...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 14, 2010 9 Comments

A just released poll by Suffolk University shows Scott Brown leading by 4 points, what the pollster calls a "Brown Out":Riding a wave of opposition to Democratic health-care reform, GOP upstart Scott Brown is leading in the U.S. Senate race, raising the odds of a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 14, 2010 2 Comments

You may have wondered why Mrs. Scott Brown is not on the campaign trail with him, and does not appear in his videos or at his speeches.If you live in Massachusetts, you may know why, but you may not.Mrs. Scott Brown is Gail Huff, a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 14, 2010 22 Comments

Obama's campaign organization has released a 2-minute video in support of Martha Coakley (via Politico).The video is very strange. It is way too long for a television commercial, although the Coakley campaign could edit it. If Obama really wanted to put himself on the line...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 14, 2010 4 Comments

On the heels of Martha Coakley's well-publicized comment criticizing Scott Brown for shaking hands with people in the cold outside Fenway Park, Brown has rolled out a new TV ad featuring him doing nothing but shaking hands with people on the street in the cold.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yu_af4KbdE]Coakley...

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