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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 September 16, 2009 8 Comments

The NY Times has been largely silent on the ACORN fiasco until today, with an article titled Conservatives Draw Blood From Acorn, Favored Foe. The Times befools itself with the following analysis of why no one previously was able to convince the Obama administration to...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 16, 2009 36 Comments

The increasingly hysterical use of the the race card by liberal columnists, bloggers and politicians reflects the last gasps of people who, being unable to win an argument on the merits, seek to end the argument.While the false accusation of racism is not a new...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 15, 2009 17 Comments

This video (h/t Tim Blair) carries a certain satisfaction. It shows the premature detonation of a roadside IED, taking out the bad guys planting the devide before the good guys had to fire a shot. That alone makes it worth posting.But listen to the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2009 8 Comments

In John Hawkins' latest quarterly ranking of Best Conservative Blogs, I have moved up to #16, from my previous #18 spot. Thanks John!Please remember, these rankings are based upon scientific consensus, so the results may not be questioned (at least not this quarter).--------------------------------------------Follow me on...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2009 8 Comments

One of the hallmarks of an Obama health care speech is to pick one or two or three anecdotes of people who have had trouble with their insurance company as proof that we need to overhaul the entire insurance industry and health care system. These...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2009 10 Comments

Barack Obama was interviewed tonight on 60 Minutes by Steve Kroft. This little nugget had been previewed in pre-interview press hype. Obama states that he will be held accountable by voters if health care restructuring fails, but in fact just the opposite is true:I have...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2009 0 Comments

That some people have taken it upon themselves to use the death of a student from swine flu as a cause for mockery and snark.Pat at And So It Goes In Shreveport has the run down: Editor of HuffPo's Health Unit Mocks Death of Cornell...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2009 24 Comments

When I first started this blog just under a year ago, I was ignorant of who was who in the blogosphere. Believe it or not, Memeorandum is not the world.But I did know about Little Green Footballs. I'm not sure why.Over the months, it became...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2009 12 Comments

Afghanistan is one issue around which there should be bi-partisan support. The consequences of the Taliban taking over the country and giving al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups a home base is too much to risk.Obama seems to have a profound sense that the stakes...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2009 7 Comments

A movement is growing in Britain to slash government spending rather than impose tax increases, according to the Sunday Times:Voters are overwhelmingly in favour of cutting public spending rather than tax rises to close the budget black hole, a Sunday Times/YouGov poll finds today.Sixty per...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2009 11 Comments

Oliver Willis compares Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's statement that Pawlenty would consider whether the 10th Amendment allows a state to opt out of a potential federal health care plan with to George Wallace standing in the doorway to bar blacks from the University of Alabama.Here...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 12, 2009 2 Comments

First it was the Senate Gang of Six who took it upon themselves to fix Joe Wilson's imaginary loophole, the one which caused Wilson out of frustration to accuse Barack Obama of lying as to whether Democratic health care proposals included illegal aliens. And caused...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 11, 2009 5 Comments

With the politics which seems to dominate all our lives, it is easy to lose sight of what matters most. This afternoon the Cornell University community lost one of our undergraduate students to swine flu. As the father of three college-age students, my heart goes out...

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

If critics are to be believed, South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson "is the liar" about whether illegal aliens could receive benefits under the various pending Democratic health care restructuring proposals.In response to this supposedly imaginary problem, the Senate "Gang of Six" bipartisan group is...

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

South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson called Barack Obama a liar for claiming that Obama's health reform proposals do not apply to illegal aliens.As I pointed out before, whether Wilson or Obama is right on the subject depends upon which health care bill one looks...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 10, 2009 6 Comments

There was a shocking lack of respect displayed at Barack Obama's health care speech last night. President Obama spent most of his speech calling opponents of Democratic health restructuring plans liars. South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson called Obama a liar in response. A shocking lack of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 09, 2009 23 Comments

During Barack Obama's speech tonight, Obama said it was untrue that "the reforms I am proposing" cover illegal aliens. Someone in the audience, reportedly South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, yelled out "liar."Now this isn't the British parliament, so I don't agree with shouting out....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 09, 2009 4 Comments

Barack Obama's speech on health care tonight was a good effort to re-frame the debate and the issues, but ultimately was a non-starter because it relied on governmental powers of coercion, a public option as to which Obama will not back down, the illusion of...

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