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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 08, 2010 1 Comment

I posted some time ago about a study by an MIT health economist, Jonathan Gruber, on the supposed cost savings of the Senate health bill, Are Our Liberties Worth Only $200-$500?. Even to my non-mathematical mind, Gruber's analysis was shoddy: Gruber has based his projections...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 08, 2010 14 Comments

See update to this post: Is SEIU Behind Anti-Brown Push Polling?------------------------------------------------I received this e-mail from a Massachusetts resident and businesswoman (and I verified her identity through publicly available sources), regarding a phone call she received last night:I got an odd call last night that presented...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 08, 2010 1 Comment

No surprise here. When the Massachusetts legislature passed a law, at the request of a dying Ted Kennedy, to allow the Governor to appoint an interim successor, a key justification was that the interim appointee not only would not run for office but also would...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 07, 2010 9 Comments

I previously posted that Martha Coakley's campaign appeared to be overstating its financial strength by hyping its primary fundraising numbers, almost all of which was spent during the primary. Coakley has not released her post-primary fundraising numbers.Coakley has been surprisingly quiet for someone who supposedly...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 07, 2010 6 Comments

What is wrong with this picture: We have the most liberal Congress and President ever, who are pushing an equally liberal agenda, yet the country is more conservative than in recent history.Gallup has released its 1992-2009 survey of political self-identification, and the result is that...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 07, 2010 2 Comments

A week ago I noted that Scott Brown was winning the online race. In the last week, particularly after the Rasmussen poll, Brown has run away with the online race.On Twitter, Brown is dominant. As of this morning, @ScottBrownMA has 3913 followers versus 1997 for...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 06, 2010 2 Comments

I'm pleased that my post, Earthquake Rumblings in MA, is ranked the most influential U.S. Politics post at Technorati.The election on January 19 is more important than you can imagine, and it no longer is under the radar.Based on the Rasmussen poll, and Brown's online...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 06, 2010 3 Comments

From CQ Politics blog:The Coakley campaign announced in a release that Kennedy's widow, Vicki, nephew Joe Kennedy, a former Massachusetts congressman, and great nephew Joe Kennedy III will endorse the Democratic nominee tomorrow in an event in Medford, Mass.Interim Senate appointee Paul Kirk, a close...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 06, 2010 5 Comments

In my prior post, "What's Martha Afraid Of?", I predicted that Martha Coakley's duck and hide campaign strategy would begin to backfire, and would become the equivalent of the Ben & Jerry's "What's the doughboy afraid of?" campaign.Sure enough, Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory has...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 06, 2010 6 Comments

(Via Breitbart)--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter and Facebook...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 06, 2010 4 Comments

Martha Coakley is the union candidate in the Massachusetts Senate special election against Scott Brown. During the primaries, SEIU spent $214,000 on advertising in support of Coakley, and is expected to throw more money into the race in the final two weeks. SEIU is organizing...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 05, 2010 15 Comments

Dear Jane,You and I do not have many political agreements, but one thing we agree upon is that the Senate health care bill must be defeated. I have my reasons, and you have yours.One thing we agree upon is that the mandate is an abomination....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 05, 2010 4 Comments

Chris Cillizza at The Fix blog at the The Washington Post writes the following in reaction to the Rasmussen poll of the Masschusetts Senate race:Coakley's fundraising abilities also ensures that she will be able to overwhelm Brown in the final weeks of the campaign as...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 05, 2010 1 Comment

Headline Sunday: Brennan: Some Guantanamo detainees will go to YemenHeadline today: Freed Guantánamo inmates are heading for Yemen to join al-Qaeda fightNothing to see here, move along.Update - New headline this afternoon, U.S. suspends Guantanamo prisoner transfer to Yemen(emphasis mine): "While we remain committed to...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2010 11 Comments

Tonight, Rasmussen will be polling the Massachusetts Senate special election.Unfortunately, some prominent right-wing commentators and almost the entire Republican establishment have decided to sit this one out unless and until there was a reputable public poll showing that Scott Brown was within striking distance of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2010 14 Comments

Numerous regions around the world are experiences record cold temperatures. While reporting the fact of record cold, the mainstream media is largely silent in attempting to draw any conclusions as to "climate change."To the extent the mainstream media does draw conclusions, it is the heads...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2010 1 Comment

The audacity of Martha Coakley taking a vacation for six days just three weeks before the Massachusetts special Senate election has had me searching for an historical political equivalent.Mike Dukakis riding on the tank? Nah. That imagery showed Dukakis to be someone who cared so...

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