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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 06, 2010 4 Comments

Martha Coakley is the union candidate in the Massachusetts Senate special election against Scott Brown. During the primaries, SEIU spent $214,000 on advertising in support of Coakley, and is expected to throw more money into the race in the final two weeks. SEIU is organizing...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 05, 2010 15 Comments

Dear Jane,You and I do not have many political agreements, but one thing we agree upon is that the Senate health care bill must be defeated. I have my reasons, and you have yours.One thing we agree upon is that the mandate is an abomination....

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

Chris Cillizza at The Fix blog at the The Washington Post writes the following in reaction to the Rasmussen poll of the Masschusetts Senate race:Coakley's fundraising abilities also ensures that she will be able to overwhelm Brown in the final weeks of the campaign as...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 05, 2010 1 Comment

Headline Sunday: Brennan: Some Guantanamo detainees will go to YemenHeadline today: Freed Guantánamo inmates are heading for Yemen to join al-Qaeda fightNothing to see here, move along.Update - New headline this afternoon, U.S. suspends Guantanamo prisoner transfer to Yemen(emphasis mine): "While we remain committed to...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2010 11 Comments

Tonight, Rasmussen will be polling the Massachusetts Senate special election.Unfortunately, some prominent right-wing commentators and almost the entire Republican establishment have decided to sit this one out unless and until there was a reputable public poll showing that Scott Brown was within striking distance of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2010 14 Comments

Numerous regions around the world are experiences record cold temperatures. While reporting the fact of record cold, the mainstream media is largely silent in attempting to draw any conclusions as to "climate change."To the extent the mainstream media does draw conclusions, it is the heads...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2010 1 Comment

The audacity of Martha Coakley taking a vacation for six days just three weeks before the Massachusetts special Senate election has had me searching for an historical political equivalent.Mike Dukakis riding on the tank? Nah. That imagery showed Dukakis to be someone who cared so...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2010 2 Comments

"If we still cannot connect the dots on al-Qaeda bomb plots, why are we having the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other 9/11 plotters in densely populated downtown Manhattan?"--------------------------------------------Related Posts:Scalia Was Right About Releasing Gitmo DetaineesSchumer Right Before He Was WrongKSM Trial is Another...

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

There is a push to get PPP, Rasmussen, or some other organization to do a poll of the special election in Massachusetts. At first glance, this seemed like a good idea. But on second glance, this comment at National Review makes sense:The last thing we...

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

Headline yesterday: Yemen’s Chaos Aids the Evolution of a Qaeda CellHeadline this morning: US, UK close Yemen embassies over al-Qaida threatsHeadline this morning: Brennan: Some Guantanamo detainees will go to YemenHeadline six months from now when another detainee released to Yemen tries to blow up...

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

As we near the January 19 special election in Massachusetts, we can expect an increasing flurry of endorsements. While it is no surprise that John McCain today endorsed Scott Brown, the reasoning set forth in McCain's video announcement is compelling:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcCuUYRxSnI]--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2010 2 Comments

Martha Coakley refuses to debate Scott Brown one-on-one. Coakley is the front-runner with better name recognition, so she has much to lose from debating Brown one-on-one. But Coakley has even more to lose from not having the courage to take on Brown.Put together with negative...

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

Unlike the plurality of Democrats who as recently as 2007 believed George W. Bush knew of the 9/11 attacks in advance, there is no traction among conservatives for the theory that Barack Obama or his administration had actual knowledge of the Undie-bomber plot beforehand.But the...

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

This is the latest in the Saturday Night Card Game series on the use of the race card for political gain:Tonight a slight twist on the use of the race card.Two people, one white and one black, ran a test of HP face tracking software,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 02, 2010 3 Comments

My, how the tables have turned.It used to be that the Obama administration gave Iran deadlines on reaching agreement on nuclear fuel reprocessing. The most recent deadline was December 31.None of those deadlines meant anything, as the Iranians figured out long ago.That's the problem with...

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

Martha Coakley just returned from six days on vacation in the middle of a special election. Ever since the December 8 primary, Coakley has attempted to portray an air of inevitability, by seeming not to care about Scott Brown's candidacy, refusing to debate him one-on-one,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 01, 2010 5 Comments

As I posted earlier, the key elements in "green" technology are rare metals mined mostly in China. The green economy envisioned by the Obama administration as the means by which we will grow "green jobs" and lessen our dependence on foreign oil in fact simply...

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