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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 01, 2009 3 Comments

The media and left-wing blogosphere are in a tizzy because Virginia Republican candidate for Governor Robert F. McDonnell took negative positions on gay-rights and other topics in a university thesis 20 years ago. McDonnell now disavows those views, saying his views have changed over time,...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 31, 2009 3 Comments

Dan at Gay Patriot has an interesting post on how Ted Kennedy saved a girl from the Soviet medical system, which could not treat her disease. Fair enough, Teddy saved a girl (I'm resisting the urge to mention ...

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

This is the second in a series of posts analyzing randomly selected provisions in HR3200, the House Democratic health care restructuring bill. In the prior post, I examined the almost incomprehensible section 1721 concerning payments to primary care practitioners.The page selected for this post, using...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 30, 2009 8 Comments

No one has been able to get a full grasp on the scope of the health care system restructuring proposed by the Democrats. I have written extensively on some of the more interesting tax provisions, but I only have scratched the surface. The pending House...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 29, 2009 4 Comments

Mathew Yglesias is one of the leading liberal bloggers pushing ObamaCare KennedyCare. Since every Senate vote counts, Yglesias and other KennedyCare promoters need to justify the Massachusetts legislature's pending flip-flop on how to select a successor to Ted Kennedy, to allow the Democratic Governor to...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 28, 2009 3 Comments

Almost forgot that Bill Ayers glorified the killer of Robert Kennedy, but thanks to a commenter at Tim Blair's blog, it's time to remember:“Is now the time to remind everyone,” emails KP, “that Obama’s babysitters Ayers and Dohrn dedicated their communist manifesto to Robert Kennedy’s...

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

Barack Obama is on vacation. That's fine. It's a high-pressure job, and a little relaxation is a good thing. But White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton is not doing such a great job substituting for Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.In defending Obama's plans for a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 27, 2009 3 Comments

CNN and MSNBC have been covering the Ted Kennedy death virtually non-stop. But it's not working out so well, per L.A. Times:Fox News maintained its top ranking among the cable news channels Wednesday as its competitors turned most of their coverage over to the death...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 27, 2009 0 Comments

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog complains that conservatives are working off some pre-determined script as to Ted Kennedy's death:"It looks like word went out yesterday about what leading conservative voices should say about Ted Kennedy's death: complain about the memorial service that...

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

Four years ago, someone published photos of a guy dancing on Ronald Reagan's grave. The photos were posted also at the "Princess Sparkle" blog, with this commentary:I've never met the sassy youngster in the above photos, but he's a Pony Pal™ by default. What's he...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 27, 2009 7 Comments

As of August 24, 2009, the two Democratic draft health care restructuring bills were horrible monstrosities which contained a myriad of pernicious tax and other provisions which put at risk the well-being of hundreds of millions of Americans while doing precious little to help the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 26, 2009 4 Comments

The Telegraph newspaper in Britain has details on a new report just released by the Patients Association which reveals one aspect of the health care crisis in Britain: In the last six years, the Patients Association claims hundreds of thousands have suffered from poor standards...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 26, 2009 47 Comments

How to react to Ted Kennedy's death? There certainly is an initial inclination to react the way so many left-wing blogs reacted to the death of Robert Novak, such as this post at the prominent Crooks and Liars:Novak will perhaps be best remembered -- if...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 25, 2009 1 Comment

More tax mischief surfaces, once again, when the pending House health care bill is squeezed. This analysis by a tax lawyer at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb shows that when various cross-referenced provisions are read together, the House bill limits the discretion of the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 25, 2009 3 Comments

Remember when Tea Parties and health care protests were derided as AstroTurf because some conservative groups gave logistical support? So what do you call it when the Democratic National Committee "organizes" and "plans" 500 protests, including the use of "professionally staffed" protests? From Politico: Faced...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 25, 2009 3 Comments

Widespread abuse has been alleged, including one incident when they threatened a detainee "with a chainsaw as his autistic daughter looked on," another where they used cattle prods on detainees' genitals, another where they put a gun against a detainee's head, another where they slammed...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 24, 2009 20 Comments

I can't keep up with all the ways in which this administration is failing. From the health care restructuring proposals gone sour, to the slippage in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the appeasement of Hugo Chavez and Iran and the bullying of Honduras, to the end...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 23, 2009 17 Comments

A good example of how far off course Democrats in Congress have strayed on the issue of health care reform, are provisions in the Senate HELP Committee draft bill creating rules and regulations governing food disclosures at fast food restaurants and in vending machines.Titled the...

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