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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 August 06, 2009 0 Comments

Much has been written about the Cash-for-Clunkers program, where people are given money by the federal government to trade up their older cars for newer models. The initial $1 billion likely will be increased by another $2 billion.The press reports reflect hundreds of thousands of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 06, 2009 6 Comments

While protests against Democractic plans to restructure the health care system are growing by the day, the campaign to malign such protesters has not caught on at all at the grassroots.The campaign to create a sense of outrage against the protesters is not working, despite...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 05, 2009 7 Comments

The health care protesters are thugs and a mob and astroturf and terrorists and Birthers and harassers and manufactured and frightening and vicious and "Karl Rove's wet dream."Did I mention a mob, terrorists and astroturf?UPDATE: Now we know who operates the Victrola (h/t American Power)--------------------------------------------Related...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 05, 2009 8 Comments

Tiny Honduras is holding out against Manuel Zelaya, Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, Barack Obama, the Organization of American States, and the United Nations.The economic and military sanctions imposed by the U.S. and international organizations with U.S. support are taking a toll on the Honduran economy....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 04, 2009 9 Comments

Like I said, with regard to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, in my prior post Yes To Sotomayor. Here's an excerpt from reliably conservative Pat Toomey's Op-Ed today:When John Roberts and Samuel Alito were nominated to the Supreme Court, Republicans argued that they should be...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 04, 2009 1 Comment

This is my official Obligatorily Snarky Obama Joker Poster Post. No poster. Find it on your own by driving in L.A. or opening almost any other blog. Just this:"What goes around comes around."Do check out my prior post, Because Only The Far Right Incites Violence,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 04, 2009 3 Comments

The fight over nationalized health care is at the heart of a larger societal battle over the role of the individual. At stake is whether individual health care choices will be subservient to the state's larger health care interest by forcing the individual to submit...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 03, 2009 4 Comments

Until June 2009, when Iranians took to the streets to protest corrupt elections, I had not heard of Juan Cole, blogger and Professor of History. But for those weeks, Juan Cole was all that, bringing his expertise and connections to bear better than most bloggers. But...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 03, 2009 4 Comments

Why would anyone be against government-run health care? It makes no sense to those pushing a public option, and the ultimate goal of a single-payer system. Government is good, insurance companies are bad. Repeat ad naseum, government good, insurance companies bad.Digby at Hullabaloo noticed this...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 02, 2009 14 Comments

Bill Maher has attacked Michelle Malkin for her new book, Culture of Corruption, in typical Maher fashion. Ignore the substance to prove a political point.What was amazing, was that Maher did it while seated next to Rachel Maddow. Why mock a book when you have...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 02, 2009 20 Comments

Various blogs have linked to [purported] nude photos of Obama's mother. I will not. It is wrong.I know that left-wing blogs would link to nude photos of Sarah Palin if they could find them, and Photoshop Sarah anyway into faux nude scenes. I know they...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 02, 2009 13 Comments

The remains of Navy Captain Scott Speicher, a pilot who has been missing since being shot down during the 1991 Gulf War, have been positively identified. The Pentagon has released a statement:The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has positively identified remains recovered in Iraq...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 01, 2009 4 Comments

The NY Times reports on whether the Treasury's "Pay Czar" will try to break the contract Citigroup has with a Phibro commodities trader, under which the trader is owed $100 million. There apparently is no dispute that absent the Treasury lending Citigroup money, and the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 31, 2009 15 Comments

Democrats are tripping over the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not born in Hawaii and that there is a cover-up by Hawaiian state officials, among others, who falsely have issued a "certificate of live birth." On the one hand, Democrats and supportive blogs push...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 31, 2009 5 Comments

One of the joys of blogging under your real name is getting e-mails like this:Mr. Jacobson,You wrote: "While the mainstream media and left-wing blogs constantly tell us that Republicans and conservatives are dead politically, I don't think they actually believe what they are saying."Actually, some...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 31, 2009 2 Comments

The meeting at the White House yesterday between Barack Obama, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and James Crowley (with Joe Biden as the fourth wheel) has been dubbed the "Beer Summit." Perhaps a better name would be the Thanksgiving Summit (emphasis mine):Pres. Obama: "I am thankful...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 30, 2009 2 Comments

Freddie Med. Never has a phrase better summed up the danger of Democratic plans to have the federal government run the health care system.What Freddie Mac did for mortgages, Freddie Med will do for health care: A politicized system in which political correctness and social...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 30, 2009 11 Comments

Blogger and media professor Jeff Cohen argues at HuffPo that the reason Obama's health care plans are failing is that the liberal netroots are not pushing hard enough for a full-blown, nationalized, "single-payer," "one nation, one plan" style medical system: Activists must recognize the surest...

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