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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 22, 2010 4 Comments

So reports The New York Times regarding a new conventional weapons system under development.In the recent arms control treaty signed with the Russians we agreed to count each of these new conventional weapons towards the nuclear weapons limits in the treaty, meaning that for each...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 22, 2010 2 Comments

Steve Malanga wrote an excellent article for City Journal about how public sector unions have controlled, and ruined, California, The Beholden State:How public employees became members of the elite class in a declining California offers a cautionary tale to the rest of the country, where...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 22, 2010 1 Comment

And of course, he is a Cornell Law School student, Class of 2010:http://www.youtube.com/get_player(original video here) --------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 22, 2010 7 Comments

Not since Sarah Palin gave an interview at a turkey processing farm has the left-wing blogosphere been so excited.The reason for the excitement?Sue Lowden, a Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada, mentioned that bartering is a legitimate means of obtaining health care services. She...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 22, 2010 15 Comments

Obama is speaking at Cooper Union, in the heart of the New York financial district, which AP describes as follows (emphasis mine): Ramping up pressure for a financial overhaul, President Barack Obama is heading to the place where the economic meltdown began to argue for...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 21, 2010 11 Comments

The civil charges being brought against Goldman Sachs on the eve of the push for financial reform have been politicized from day one by the Obama administration and Democrats.Civil charges can put pressure on a firm and industry, and in themselves can be destructive. Regardless...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 21, 2010 8 Comments

With the Obama administration pushing for financial reforms, and the SEC having gone after Goldman Sachs for allegedly favoring a hedge fund client, the spotlight is on New York Senator Charles Schumer.Schumer has been a champion of Wall Street financial firms for years, particularly hedge...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 21, 2010 15 Comments

Big news over the wires. The threatened Doorman Strike in New York City has been averted, Deal Reached That Averts a Walkout by Doormen:The owners of more than 3,200 apartment buildings in New York City reached an agreement on a new labor contract with the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 20, 2010 15 Comments

On March 11, I reported on a proposal by a New York State Democratic legislator to ban salt in restaurants, Leave Our Salt Alone.One political scientist, who also totally missed the Scott Brown election call, vehemently objected that the claim the government would regulate salt...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 20, 2010 39 Comments

It would be easy to cheer as the Obama administration seeks to take down Goldman Sachs. After all, Goldman Sachs has become a proxy for Wall Street, since so many of the old icons no longer exist or have been consumed as a result of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 19, 2010 3 Comments

DEBKAfile is an Israeli website which focuses on intelligence, military affairs, and Middle East politics. It is a must-read and is on my list of "Blogs I Read" in the left sidebar.The site frequently breaks information about various intriques which we read about in the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 19, 2010 10 Comments

Oh, the world they live in. Surrounded by enemies, they sit in their guarded lairs waiting for "the other" to approach.And then it happens. The guards are no more, and they must face the menacing horde. Alone with their paranoia and hypocrisy and thousand...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 19, 2010 10 Comments

For two years, opponents of Obama's agenda have been painted by the mainstream media, left-wing blogs and Democratic leadership as racist and extremist white supremacists.The charges are malicious and false, as documented here dozens of times.So what happens when there is a real white supremacist,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 19, 2010 13 Comments

On Friday, Goldman Sachs was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud in the formation and marketing of a mortgage backed product, a so-called Collateralized Debt Obligation.The gist of the allegations is that Goldman Sachs failed to disclose that a major hedge fund...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 18, 2010 13 Comments

You will never guess who. Or in which publication such tripe was written.For those of you who have just emerged from a three-year long coma or a round-trip to Mars, here is the context, from The New York Times (emphasis mine):They are two of the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 18, 2010 6 Comments

Just a little anecdote about the likely future of Obamacare:I was speaking with a doctor friend earlier today, and the topic turned to Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance reimbursement rates. He told me that Medicare pays him about half what private insurance pays, and...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 18, 2010 6 Comments

Obamacare will have the unintended consequence of creating a two-tier system which is far more dramatic than the current system.We all know about the coercive nature of the individual and employer mandates under Obamacare. Those mandates, however, merely are mandatory (brilliant, I know).The mandates do...

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

The NY Times reports on a classified memo sent by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to President Obama admitting that current U.S. strategies on Iran will not succeed in stopping Iran from building a nuclear weapon:Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret...

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