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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 January 24, 2010 11 Comments

I really have very little patience for the "oh, I didn't realize what I was getting with Obama, he seemed so cool, and I was caught up in the hype, and now I realize that he talked a good game but doesn't know what he's...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 24, 2010 7 Comments

My new favorite source of screen shots has outdone itself, with this post and headline The first senator of the reality show era:The text of the Politico post has nothing to do with reality:Brown’s arrival reflects a fundamental change in American politics, the most complete...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 24, 2010 3 Comments

In order to justify China's crackdown on free speech on the internet, including banning YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, a Chinese communist newspaper posed this question:The People's Daily editorial asked rhetorically if obscene information or activities promoting terrorism would be allowed on the internet in the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 24, 2010 6 Comments

A lot of people have been playing Waterloo in the wake of the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts. That's history.Here's the future. An exclusive preview of Obama's upcoming State of the Union address this Wednesday (btw, we'll be "live" again): Where are those happy days,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 23, 2010 2 Comments

This is the latest in the Saturday Night Card Game series on the use of the race card for political gain:A follow up to the "technology is racist" twist explored in the last of the series, HP Face Tracking Software Racist? Now, it's Nikon's photo...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 23, 2010 5 Comments

Talk about dominance of the Internet.Patrick Ruffini has an article in The Washington Post, which relates how Republicans won the internet in the Scott Brown election.I'm shocked.Putting my shock aside, for the moment, there is something else worth noting.As of noon today, the article...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 23, 2010 9 Comments

From Charles Blow [sic] in the NY Times: Welcome to the mob: an angry, wounded electorate, riled by recession, careening across the political spectrum, still craving change, nursing a bloodlust...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 23, 2010 5 Comments

The election of Scott Brown to the Senate left for dead the abomination known as the Senate health care bill.But it may not have been enough to get the message through to the Democrats who just seem to be begging to be thrown out of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 23, 2010 0 Comments

Nothing to worry about in Yemen: Because al-Qaeda is just a joke: Apparently, al-Qaeda doesn't have a Twitter account, so it never got the message.--------------------------------------------Related Posts:About That "Firecracker"Not So Scary Terror?Terrorist Attacks Plane, Think Progress Attacks Pete HoekstraFollow me on Twitter and Facebook...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2010 8 Comments

Sometimes a Memeorandum thread almost speaks for itself.In this case, the push launched by Balloon-Juice, Sadly No, Daily Kos and others to demand that the House pass the lousy and unpopular Senate bill as is.With backers like these, Democrats have nothing to worry about.Democrats, particularly...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2010 3 Comments

Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu sold their reputations for hometown deals as part of the Senate health care bill. Now that the Senate bill is dead, they have nothing to show for the sale.Raymond J. Donovan was Secretary of Labor under Ronald Reagan. Donovan was...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2010 4 Comments

The mainstream media finally is waking up to the under-the-radar social media revolution which hid in plain sight in the Massachusetts Senate special election. As reported by the Wall Street Journal:A study [embedded below] conducted by the Emerging Media Research Council out today found that...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2010 3 Comments

April 29, 2009, Relax, The Dems Will Screw Up:What history shows us is that a liberal, blame-America-first Democratic President, urged on by a liberal, blame-America-first Democratic Congress, is a prescription for political self-destruction. Leave Democrats to their own devices, and they will screw themselves politically,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2010 3 Comments

Enthusiasm among the youth of America for the Democratic Party is vanishing almost as quickly as their MySpace accounts in the age of Facebook: It appears there is a potentially huge problem for Democrats going into the 2010 election cycle: young people simply are not...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2010 5 Comments

(via Day by Day)--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 21, 2010 12 Comments

Hot off the presses: After Scott Brown's victory, the only thing that could top this would be for Nancy Pelosi to announce that she doesn't have the votes in the House to pass Harrycare. Hey, you can't take away my dreams.Update: OMG, dreams really do...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 21, 2010 13 Comments

Barack Obama reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down parts of McCain-Feingold campaign contribution restrictions:With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory...

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