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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 March 16, 2009 0 Comments

The NY Times is desperate. Its revenues are shrinking, it sold its headquarters, and it took out a sub-prime mortgage from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.The Times' business problems have caused it to put advertising on the front page of the print edition.But please, did the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 16, 2009 0 Comments

I am so proud. My home State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is tops in home mortgage fraud, according to a study just released: Rhode Island has displaced Florida as the state leading the nation in mortgage fraud, according to a report made public...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 16, 2009 4 Comments

Barack Obama is scheduled to go on the Jay Leno show on Thursday, March 19, 2009, as part of his campaign to get the almost $4 trillion budget passed. A few days after the Leno appearance, Obama will be attending $100-$2,500 per plate campaign fundraising...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 15, 2009 0 Comments

Much has been written about ammunition shortages, and skyrocketing prices. It is about to get worse, as the Obama administration has implemented scrap metal policies which will make it much more difficult for manufacturers to get the material needed for civilian munitions.An interesting post...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 15, 2009 10 Comments

Change is in the air. Not just that the inside the Beltway pundits are noticing that He is not all that He is cracked up to be. Not just that people are taking to the streets in protest. Not just that our European allies no...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 15, 2009 0 Comments

Cyber-aerobics workouts may be the key to curing childhood obesity, according to this Israeli sports center:The sports center recommends its athletes to develop computer addiction to become strong and handsome. The more time spent at the monitor, the better...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 15, 2009 9 Comments

Just a little true anecdote on how the "rich" cutting back is hurting the "not rich."My wife went to a hair salon last Friday. The salon is located on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island, near Brown University. This is the premier neighborhood in...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 13, 2009 6 Comments

In August 2007, Paul Krugman, in an op-ed titled "It's All About Them" famously labeled Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, the then-leading Republican candidates for President, "narcissists" because they allegedly viewed real problems from the perspective of how they were viewed:What’s now clear is that...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 13, 2009 7 Comments

There has been a little on-line spat brewing between Robert Stacy (the other) McCain, and one James B. Webb, which resulted in my memorable post Sitemeterenfreude ("deriving pleasure from the failure of other bloggers to generate traffic") based on this McCain post mocking Webb's failure...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 13, 2009 3 Comments

Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, says we must overcome the "excess of fear":President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said Friday the nation's economic crisis has led to an ''excess of fear'' among Americans that must be broken to reverse the downturn.National Economic Council Director...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 13, 2009 0 Comments

I have been compared to a Jedi Master, the second highest rank, but I think that is overstating things by far. The question is, who is the Grand Master of newbie bloggers?Is it he who writes the Rules, he without whom there would be no...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 13, 2009 1 Comment

Professor Glenn Reynolds, of Instapundit fame but writing for Forbes, focuses on changing the way we view and treat "old" age as one of the keys to solving the social security problem:But even much more modest progress--extending healthy middle age from 60 to, say, 80--would...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 12, 2009 0 Comments

Rule 2 - it's nice to be nice to the nice -- is alive and well in Shreveport:So, blogoverse, let me clarify my silly previous post and just say that Legal Insurrection is the greatest blog I've ever seen. It is full of insightful commentary...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 12, 2009 7 Comments

While the Obama administration considers pulling back on continuing to develop technology to provide a missile shield for Europe and beyond, the Iranians have made important developments in missile technology. This is not coming from Chas Freeman's dreaded Israel lobby, but from a Russian military...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 12, 2009 5 Comments

Oh how I have suffered for this blog. Psychiatric deviations. Loss of any semblance of spare time. Marital stress:She said: Are you on the blog again?He said: No.She said: Liar.He said: I just got on.Believe it or not, there was a strategy here. Neither an...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 11, 2009 5 Comments

Based upon my identification of Blogger Mood Disorder, SiteMeter Envy, and Sitemeterenfraude, I have been appointed "blogospheric neologian":I'm going to have to ask blogospheric neologian William Jacobson what to call it when the Professor [Glenn Reynolds] sends me traffic via a carom shot off a...

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