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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 November 12, 2009 12 Comments

Just a couple of days ago I wrote of the fundraising boycott of the Democratic National Committee and Obama campaign apparatus by liberal gay rights activists. The boycott was in reaction to almost complete inaction, and in some cases what was perceived as insulting conduct,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 12, 2009 3 Comments

Karl Eikenberry, who was in charge of training the Afghan Army from 2002-2003, and in charge of all U.S. military operations in Afghanistan from 2005-2007, now is Ambassador to Afghanistan. Eikenberry apparently is the dissenting voice on the Obama national security team which caused Obama...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 12, 2009 9 Comments

Great post from the Hillary Clinton supporters at HillBuzz about Dubya and Laura Bush. Here's an excerpt, but read the whole thing (I can't wait for the Obama supporters to chalk this up to the whining of sore losers), Thank you former President George W....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 12, 2009 12 Comments

Good morning. Hope you slept well. You won't tonight, after seeing this, from the CBO website: Federal Budget Deficit as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product (By fiscal year)-------------------------------------------- Related Posts: 100% Plus Taxation Key To Permanent Dem Majority For Crying Out Loud: "Barack Obama Deficit-Slayer" Follow me on Twitter...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 11, 2009 25 Comments

Obama is rejecting all Afghanistan military options presented to him by his national security team after months of consultation, and wants "revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government."Will someone tell our President this is not a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 11, 2009 7 Comments

Ezra Klein posts The $900 billion mistake, about how Barack Obama picked that number out of thin air in his September 2009 speech on health care, as to what health care reform should cost. That arbitrary number has flummoxed Democrats in coming up with a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 11, 2009 1 Comment

As reported by AP:John J. O'Connor III, the husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, has died.The court said that O'Connor, 79, died Wednesday in Phoenix, Ariz., of complications arising from Alzheimer's disease.John O'Connor, himself a lawyer, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's nearly two...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 11, 2009 6 Comments

Obama's speech at Fort Hood has been declared to be his greatest speech ever. Seemed appropriate, but pedestrian, to me. Now if Obama had spoken from the heart without a teleprompter, that would have been special.I much preferred Obama's "my pet goat" speech, when Obama...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 11, 2009 2 Comments

Hey Selma, this should make you happy.Rasmussen reports that Obama is down to -10% on the strong approve/disapprove index, and his overall approval is down to 46%: The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 30% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 11, 2009 4 Comments

Harry Reid has a big announcement: Debate will start on Monday on the health care bill! (Assuming Reid gets enough votes to start debate).Which health care bill? We do not know. Reid has not released the bill. He's keeping it in his rather-large back pocket...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 11, 2009 8 Comments

Is it possible to pay more than 100% of your last dollar of income in taxes? And if it were, would you bother to earn that last dollar?Herein lies the key to how Democrats will obtain a permanent, economically-enslaved majority if universal income-based health care...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 10, 2009 0 Comments

But it strikes me that this situation is like the guy who runs a mile a day, and on the 26th day declares: "I just ran a marathon!"While you're at it, Give The Man His Due, and A Tip.--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 10, 2009 3 Comments

From The Telegraph (h/t HotAir) -------------------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 10, 2009 9 Comments

Barbara Boxer (D-Ca) is proclaiming she has enough votes in the Senate to block the equivalent of the Stupak Amendment from being attached to any Senate health care bill.Ok, then what?The only reason the House was able to pass a health care bill was that...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 10, 2009 3 Comments

Hot on the heals of the Bush-Balloon Boy connection, and the Iraq-Stupak connection, now we have the inevitable Bush-Cheney-Hasan connection.Writing about the mass murder by al-Qaeda-infatuated Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, a blogger at Firedoglake invokes the evil spirit of Bush/Cheney, Will There Be A...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 10, 2009 11 Comments

A group of prominent gay-rights bloggers, activists, and fundraisers, led by AMERICAblogGAY, is launching a boycott on contributions to the Democratic National Committee and Obama's campaign apparatus:We are asking voters to pledge to withhold contributions to the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, and the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 10, 2009 4 Comments

You just knew this had to rear its head on the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall. The anti-Israel left is demanding Mr. Netanyahu, Tear Down This Wall:On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Western leaders are full of self-congratulation. But...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 09, 2009 2 Comments

I so love to say I told you so.On Sunday, after recovering from the intial reaction to the House vote, I cautioned that the Stupak Amendment created an impossible situation for Democrats. While Democrats were still drunk with jubilation over the Great Saturday Night Victory,...

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