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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.

Harry Reid just completed his press conference in which he committed to pushing a "public option" through the Senate. What form of public option? The Opt-Out form. What is the Opt-Out form? Let's see what the legislative language says.Does Reid have the votes to stop...

The Democratic push on health care restructuring focuses on costs and control. But there are some questions the Democrats are avoiding: Instead of solely considering costs, shouldn't we ask if Americans are willing to die sooner from cancer, to give up access to specialists, to...

It's slipping away from the protectors of the Obama image. Increasingly, the mainstream media is using the term "Nixonian" in the same sentence as Obama. And all because of an unnecessary fight Obama picked with Fox News.The term Nixonian has taken on a meaning far...

I've been waiting patiently, armed with foresight that one of these days Bush Derangement Syndrome would work its way into the Balloon Boy hoax story (no links on the story, if you don't know about it, go back to your cave).And I've waited. And waited....

Toby Harnden, the great columnist and blogger for The Telegraph newspaper, has an article titled Barack Obama must stop campaigning and start governing.The thrust of the article is that the U.S., being the land of the permanent campaign, naturally gave rise to the President who...

The latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:This time, it's the reaction to my post about the two South Carolina Republican county chairs who used a sterotype of Jews being penny pinchers in a misguided and failed attempt...

The pre-weekend information dump included an announcement by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department that the federal government proposes to extend its control over pay packages beyond financial institutions which received bailout funds.According to the press release, the government proposes to monitor and, if need...

Remember when Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, and Media Matters (the same entity coordinating a media boycott of Fox News) claimed that anyone who was unhappy with the award must be anti-American:Well, at least conservatives are consistent in their open disdain for American achievement...

Joe Klein is a concern troll. In purporting to criticize Obama's attacks on Fox News, Klein devotes most of his latest post to attacking Fox News:Let me be precise here: Fox News peddles a fair amount of hateful crap. Some of it borders on sedition....

There are many stupid things said on the internet. Add to the list of top-ten contenders the claim that author Caroline Glick is not concerned with the survival of Israel.This claim is made in a post at the Lawyers, Guns & Money blog, a left-wing...

The Obama administration's attack that Fox News is not a real "news organization" reflects on the psyche not of Fox News but of our Commander in Chief and his emissaries. It also is a pathetic re-write of history in light of the incredibly biased, pro-Obama...

I'm late to this story, so I'll mostly link to others. Barack Obama tried to bar Fox News from the White House news pool, a move that is unprecedented.I have been sounding the alarm about Obama's intolerant tendencies for a year. I was right.Fortunately, the...

Alan Grayson, Democratic Congressman from Florida, is building his claim to fame on the accusation that 45,000 Americans die each year from lack of health insurance. Grayson even has started a website to count the dead. Grayson bases this number on a study released by...

I'm no polling methods expert, but something about automated telephone polls strikes me as strange. Such as this question and method of response:Do you think that Barack Obama loves America?If yes, press 1. If no, press 2. If you’re not sure, press 3.The responses to...

With each passing day, I am becoming more and more convinced that the Obama administration's sustained and crude attacks on Fox News are a big diversion.Sure, the attacks on Fox News are unprecedented in the post-Nixon era. Barack Milhous Obama may not be change we...

Anita MonCrief is an ACORN whistleblower who is facing substantial legal fees to defend lawsuits brought against her by ACORN and its affiliates. A new website has been established to support her, the Anita MonCrief Defense Fund.While you're at it, visit Defend Hannah Giles, the...

The process by which Democratic leaders are strong-arming various groups to coerce support for health care restructuring is a warning sign to all about the abuse of government power which will take place if the Democratic proposals pass.The Democrats shook down the pharmaceutical industry to...

From Chicago-Sun Times columnist Steve Huntley:The White House trying to dictate who's a news organization. Democrats out to gut a business group. Obama media allies damning Americans as racist, unpatriotic and treasonous. Is this the America Obama promised when he campaigned to end the cynical...