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.
Dede Scazzafava's decision to drop out of the NY-23 race has evoked a round of name-calling and fear-mongering from the left-wing blogosphere not seen since ...
There is a political earthquake breaking in the NY-23 race. Republican insider Dede Scazzafava has quit the race, as reported first by Robert Stacey McCain, who is on the scene in upstate NY. HotAir is collecting the sources and information.This will pit Conservative Doug Hoffman...
President Obama made a trip to Dover Air Force Base to be present when the coffins of troops and DEA agents were returned from Afghanistan.I have no problem with it.One thing I've learned in life is that everyone mourns in his or her own way.I...
The Obama administration finally got its first foreign policy victory, in Honduras. But it appears to be merely symbolic, with Chicago-style bullying still going on in the background to force Honduras to allow Manuel Zelaya back into power.The government of Honduras has agreed -- subject...
The Congressional Budget Office has released its "scoring" of the House health care restructuring bill. The CBO is required to score bills the way they are drafted, even if the assumptions in the legislation are unrealistic or politically unlikely to be fully implemented. Accordingly, the...
The crowning achievement of Barack Obama's negotiation without precondition strategy on Iran was Iran's alleged agreement to ship its uranium abroad for reprocessing. This supposed agreement -- which was never as significant as it seemed -- was touted as proof that Obama's approach was correct.Popular...
The drafters and supporters of the 1,990-page health care restructuring bill released by Nancy Pelosi this morning really don't understand how business works.I've had only a few minutes to look at the bill, but one fundamental and profound stupidity jumped out at me.The bill defines...
I'm watching Nancy Pelosi's press conference announcing the final House Democratic health restructuring bill. It's 1990 pages.We'll see what the bill really says once we have time to analyze it, but here's what we know from prior versions, news reports, and Pelosi's talking points. The...
My home state of Rhode Island is quirky place. We still celebrate Victory Over Japan Day in August, although the name was changed to VJ Day and then to Victory Day, in a nod to political correctness. Now there is a move afoot to change...
Yet another "shocked to find gambling in Casablanca" moment. This time, the AP -- yes the AP! -- checked claims of jobs "created or saved" by stimulus bill spending, and found that the number of jobs was overstated by a factor of 1 in 6:But...
I'm at the point where I have to figure out whether to make some changes to the format of this blog. Don't worry, it's not one of those blogger delusions of grandeur, as in, I've had a few good months so now I'm all that.Rather,...
Alternative headline: "Obama Critic Says It's Gone Too Far."Let Obama play hoops and hit the links with the guys. Exactly which high-powered woman is he supposed to set a pick for, box out, or look the other way when she uses the foot wedge? Hillary?...
Harry Reid held a press conference Monday pushing an "opt out" public option knowing full well he did not have the Democratic votes to break a filibuster.The left-wing blogosphere, which stopped listening to Reid's press conference immediately after hearing the words "public option," celebrated a...
For the next few days I'll be blogging from the Left coast. Today I'm going to go see the brush fires. Tomorrow I'll go see the mud slides. Friday I'll watch as California's economy falls off a cliff into the Pacific. ...
Heading to the airport, but wanted to get in a quick Told Ya So.Yesterday, when everyone to the left was cheering Harry Reid's performance, I said Reid had called a new conference to announce nothing: Harry Reid: "I Have Nothing to Announce, So Pay Attention"I...
Josh Gerstein asks a question a lot of people have been asking: What if George W. Bush had done that?A four-hour stop in New Orleans, on his way to a $3 million fundraiser. Snubbing the Dalai Lama. Signing off on a secret deal with drug...
I've stayed out of the controversy over J Street, the supposedly "pro-Israel, pro-Peace" group founded by out-of-popularity Israeli peaceniks and left-wing Americans.With all my coverage of Democratic attempts to destroy the American health care system, I haven't had the time to cover J-Street's attempt to...
The left-wing blogosphere practically went orgasmic when Alan Grayson (D-Fla) took to the floor of the House of Representatives and announced that the Republican health care plan was for sick people to "die quickly." Hah hah. Money and fame flooded into Grayson's coffers and ego,...
