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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.

Great post by Michelle Malkin pointing out that MSNBC, whose commentators routinely lash out at conservatives and Republicans as being all-white, is in fact all white:--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

In my post the other day, Berkeley Students Should Be Protesting Obamacare, I made the point that the Berkeley student protesters were too stupid to realize that their future was being sold out from under them under the Obama-Pelosi-Reid health care restructuring plans because younger...

It is reported that Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, is paralyzed. So you knew this was coming:How barbaric that the military will seek to kill a man with no sensation in his body from the chest down. He might prefer it (I certainly would)...

Saturday, November 21, 2009. State: Louisiana. Verdict: Bad Day. Proof:LSU butchers final few seconds"It's not $100 million; it's $300 million!"Somebody is not happy.--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

It gets curiouser and curiouser.Yesterday, Mary Landrieu closed the deal for a payoff to Louisiana in exchange for her vote to let Harry Reid's health care restructuring bill go to Senate floor debate. The deal had been negotiated over weeks, with initial reports putting the...

The other day, when the news of "hacked" e-mails from a British climate institute hit the internet, I wrote Why The "Hacked E-Mails" Don't Interest Me, Yet.In the post, I noted that I did not have the time to devote to the hacked e-mails because...

Mary Landrieu should make Edwin Edwards proud. After being criticized for taking $100 million in earmarked aid for Louisiana as part of Harry Reid's health care bill, Landrieu shot back:“I will correct something. It’s not $100 million, it’s $300 million, and I’m proud of it...

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:I almost had forgotten about Jesse Jackson. But he's still out there, and still the master race card player:“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said...

The students taking over buildings at U.C. Berkeley are protesting large pending tuition increases. The ultra-liberal campus has a sense of entitlement out of whack with the reality of California; liberal economic policies have ruined California's economy, so these students will have to get used...

The Associated Press has been at the forefront of efforts to prevent bloggers and websites linking to, and quoting, traditional media content: Taking a new hard line that news articles should not turn up on search engines and Web sites without permission, The Associated Press...

I've spent some time going through Harry Reid's 2,074 page health care restructuring bill. If you read the dozens of prior posts regarding prior versions, you pretty much know the story. There are many good analyses of the tax and other aspects, so read up.While...

The internet is on fire due to the heat generated by the e-mails hacked from a British climate institute, "allegedly" showing that some scientists, in order to justify their grant money, may have phonied-up some global climate numbers.I refuse to join the bandwagon alerting the...

Latest tracking poll from Rasmussen shows Obama at -14% on the strongly approve/strongly disapprove index. Look at the chart, and it shows a steady rise in negatives and steady fall in positives, for month after month since the Democrats rolled out their health care plans....

Harry Reid wants a Saturday night vote to open debate in the Senate on Reid's 2,074 page attempt to restructure the health care system.What will the Senator then do? Actually start debate? No, they will leave for the Thanksgiving break.So what's the hurry? The same...

Chuck Schumer defends Obama's decision to try 9/11 subjects in civilian court in lower Manhattan.But Schumer was against it (via HotAir and Washington Times) in 2001, using words which explained the lack of logic to a civilian trial for the planners of the 9/11 attacks...

Tom Coburn (R-Ok) may request, as is his right under Senate Rules, that the entire 2,027 page Harry Reid health care restructuring bill be read out loud on the floor of the Senate prior to debate: A little quick math shows that at a minute...

There is one number about which Harry Reid and the Democrats almost never talk: 255 million.That is the number of Americans who have health insurance, according to the September 2009 Report released by the Census Bureau (at page 20). The vast majority of those people...

It is clear that Democrats, who opposed shock and awe on the actual battlefield, find it a useful tactic in the health care debate.Last night, Harry Reid released the 2,074 page bill he created in secret, and he wants to start debate immediately. If he...