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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 October 29, 2009 15 Comments

The drafters and supporters of the 1,990-page health care restructuring bill released by Nancy Pelosi this morning really don't understand how business works.I've had only a few minutes to look at the bill, but one fundamental and profound stupidity jumped out at me.The bill defines...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 29, 2009 1 Comment

I'm watching Nancy Pelosi's press conference announcing the final House Democratic health restructuring bill. It's 1990 pages.We'll see what the bill really says once we have time to analyze it, but here's what we know from prior versions, news reports, and Pelosi's talking points. The...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 29, 2009 11 Comments

My home state of Rhode Island is quirky place. We still celebrate Victory Over Japan Day in August, although the name was changed to VJ Day and then to Victory Day, in a nod to political correctness. Now there is a move afoot to change...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 29, 2009 2 Comments

Yet another "shocked to find gambling in Casablanca" moment. This time, the AP -- yes the AP! -- checked claims of jobs "created or saved" by stimulus bill spending, and found that the number of jobs was overstated by a factor of 1 in 6:But...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 28, 2009 33 Comments

I'm at the point where I have to figure out whether to make some changes to the format of this blog. Don't worry, it's not one of those blogger delusions of grandeur, as in, I've had a few good months so now I'm all that.Rather,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 28, 2009 8 Comments

Alternative headline: "Obama Critic Says It's Gone Too Far."Let Obama play hoops and hit the links with the guys. Exactly which high-powered woman is he supposed to set a pick for, box out, or look the other way when she uses the foot wedge? Hillary?...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 28, 2009 2 Comments

Harry Reid held a press conference Monday pushing an "opt out" public option knowing full well he did not have the Democratic votes to break a filibuster.The left-wing blogosphere, which stopped listening to Reid's press conference immediately after hearing the words "public option," celebrated a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 28, 2009 6 Comments

For the next few days I'll be blogging from the Left coast. Today I'm going to go see the brush fires. Tomorrow I'll go see the mud slides. Friday I'll watch as California's economy falls off a cliff into the Pacific. ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 27, 2009 4 Comments

Heading to the airport, but wanted to get in a quick Told Ya So.Yesterday, when everyone to the left was cheering Harry Reid's performance, I said Reid had called a new conference to announce nothing: Harry Reid: "I Have Nothing to Announce, So Pay Attention"I...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 27, 2009 6 Comments

Josh Gerstein asks a question a lot of people have been asking: What if George W. Bush had done that?A four-hour stop in New Orleans, on his way to a $3 million fundraiser. Snubbing the Dalai Lama. Signing off on a secret deal with drug...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 27, 2009 2 Comments

I've stayed out of the controversy over J Street, the supposedly "pro-Israel, pro-Peace" group founded by out-of-popularity Israeli peaceniks and left-wing Americans.With all my coverage of Democratic attempts to destroy the American health care system, I haven't had the time to cover J-Street's attempt to...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 27, 2009 2 Comments

The left-wing blogosphere practically went orgasmic when Alan Grayson (D-Fla) took to the floor of the House of Representatives and announced that the Republican health care plan was for sick people to "die quickly." Hah hah. Money and fame flooded into Grayson's coffers and ego,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2009 1 Comment

Obama has a massive foreign policy problem. It's called John Kerry. Kerry has been running his own foreign policy mission in Afghanistan, lecturing the locals, and now is back home lecturing the locals.Kerry has come out against the troop surge requested by General Stanley McChrystal...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2009 1 Comment

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2009 1 Comment

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2009 3 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 25, 2009 10 Comments

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....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 25, 2009 15 Comments

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...

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