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.
Parents "backed McAuliffe by 10 points two weeks ago. Now, they go for Youngkin by 14."...
At Moms For America rally: "We don't want sorrys. We want resignations. We want oustings. We want states to withdraw their memberships from the National School Board Association...
Nick Sandmann to Stelter: "Howdy"...
NSBA compared parent protesters to domestic terrorists, but now says: "there is no justification for some of the language used in the letter"...
Complaint: "This is an action brought by Oklahoma students and educators challenging the state legislature’s unprecedented and unconstitutional censorship of discussions about race and gender in schools ...
Question for oral argument on November 1 focuses on DOJ standing: "May the United States bring suit in federal court and obtain injunctive or declaratory relief against the State, state court judges, state court clerks, other state officials, or all private parties to prohibit S.B....
On Megyn Kelly Podcast: "Not to speak out is to deny students and children that very crucial comprehensive education that they're entitled to as American children."...
Complaint: "Plaintiff’s members include students within Asheville City Schools who are ineligible for a City of Asheville-funded scholarship only because they are not Black."...
Resolution: Since the Rhode Island Association of School Committees "released correspondence indicating RIASC would cooperate with federal law enforcement to potentially adversely engage with our constituents ...
NEA-RI says it was forced to sue Solas and her husband in order to sue the school district to prevent release of records. But NEA-RI had no standing to inject itself into the public records process under clear Rhode Island law, so that defense...
Bessinger wants an apology from the district, and that the district address the hostility against her stoked by staff without suspending her without pay and transferring her as punishment for speaking out against the racialized curriculum....
After an administrative "pre-disciplinary hearing" that the Wall Street Journal has called a "pretext" to punish Bessinger for publicly criticizing the district's Critical Race curriculum, Bessinger found herself isolated and surrounded in a circle by 10-12 male students who were taunting her....
"Education Horror Show, Continued - A teacher is targeted after she described the baleful effect of critical race theory."...
My interview on the Tony Katz Show: "From what I'm seeing, there is enormous energy in reaction to that and enormous defiance."...
I am listed among a distinguished (and diverse, did I mention diverse?) group of "frontline spokespeople." I am not worthy! But they misspelled my name, which is a micro-aggression....
Taunting and threatening messages were put on Bessinger's classroom whiteboard, and then photos of the messages were tweeted at her, while her "pre-disciplinary" hearing was an aggressive inquisition trying to put words in her mouth....
