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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.

The headline in USA Today/Gallup's latest health care poll is that the public, by a 48-46% margin, is against or leaning against the current health care proposal:Forty-six percent of Americans say they would advise their member of Congress to vote for healthcare legislation (or lean...

Obama yesterday:"From the discussions we had, it's clear we are on the precipice of achievement that's eluded Congresses, presidents for generations -- an achievement that will touch the lives of nearly every American." It appears, from the context, Obama was intending to use the word...

Has anyone seen Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana)? He has gone missing on the health care debate.The almost VP-nominee has flown so far under the radar that a Google News search for "Evan Bayh health care" for the past month turns up very little as to...

Whether or not to blog anonymously has been debated for the internet-equivalent of forever.The Publius "outing" incident last spring certainly stirred the debate again, when a newly-minted law professor blogging under a pseudonym for fear of academic retribution had his identity disclosed by another blogger...

Steve Benen, at Washington Monthly, suggests that the enthusiastic and open embrace by some single-payer advocates of the "Medicare buy-in" idea floated by Harry Reid, as a device to obtain a single-payer system, may have scared Joe Lieberman away from the idea.Benen laments that such...

How long before arrest warrants are issued by politically motivated judges in Europe for high level U.S. politicians and military officials because drone strikes in Pakistan kill civilians?Don't think it could happen? How about this story from Britain, Israel fury over British war crimes warrant...

I have to hand it to Harry Reid. He may be on the verge of pulling off the ultimate card play.Reid managed to get everyone excited and fearful through a whispering campaign about a last-minute "compromise" to expand Medicare, even though we can't pay for...

Good for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which leads the way in supporting breast cancer awareness and research.In a statement just released, the Komen Foundation refuses to cave in to the despicable attempt by Jane Hamsher and some of her followers to force the Komen...

Not content to call upon the Susan G. Komen Foundation to fire Hadassah Lieberman, Jane Hamsher now is trying to organize secondary pressure on the Komen Foundation through various celebrities who are involved with the organization. The online Petition states:As I said before, it's a...

I didn't get a chance to comment this weekend on Matthew Yglesias' ground-breaking announcement that the country has become "ungovernable" because the majority (Democrats) seem unable to run roughshod over the minority (Republicans) in the Senate:We’re suffering from an incoherent institutional set-up in the senate....

John Hawkins has an interesting post regarding a conversation he had with a Senate staffer on the chances of Obama-Pelosi-Reid-care passing this year (not likely) or in January (50/50):John: But still, it's looking grim right?Senate Aide X: They are in much worse shape now than...

Well, we can't have Senators being forthright with their colleagues face-to-face. That is worthy of this headline:No, what we need is more sniveling backstabbing and double-talk.--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

"When we fail to inspire hope, we fail the future, which, one way are [sic] the other, we are bound to live into."Read the whole thing, and let me know.--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

The first exhibits merely reflexive reaction to startling movement, the other establishes meaningful cognition at an early age by choosing to replicate a sound. Just saying.Please, no one tell the Feline Theocracy. It is very intolerant of dissent.http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.2.46(h/t to The Coffee Shop for the kitten,...

Obama down 19 points in the Rasmussen strongly approve/strongly disapprove poll just released: H/t Moonbattery, which notes: The approval index stands at an astounding -28 among the independents who were temporarily duped into electing him.Obamunists did say that their messiah would unite us. At this...

What it was about this comment which led me to suspect it was spam (so I didn't approve it, link disabled fyi):This is nice blog post, an excellent it very nice...

Sarah Palin's appearance on the Conan O'Brien late night show generated huge positive buzz. Even (some of) the Palin haters were hard-pressed to come up with a negative about it.This marks something of a turning point for Palin. More so than daytime media, late night...

This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:Although I commented on this incident earlier, it warrants bringing out the videotape, for Harry Reid's now classic card play, in which Reid compared those who oppose his health...