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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.

Every now and then, someone writes something that says exactly what I wanted to say had I said it. An article by Yuval Levin in Commentary Magazine, titled "The Meaning of Sarah Palin" so well expresses my disgust at the treatment of Sarah Palin, that...

This is one of those man-bites-dog stories. We all know about the shoes thrown at George Bush, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, and yesterday at the Israeli Ambassador to Sweden.In Ithaca, NY, the prevailing power structure is represented by Socialist Mayor Carol Peterson. Last year Peterson...

The Guardian newspaper in Britain devotes endless articles and op-eds to criticising Israel. The paper is worth reading if only to keep up to date on what the anti-Israel left is thinking. Few if any columnists are more critical of Israel than Jonathan Freedland. Yet...

Tom Daschle, under a cloud of income tax evasion, has withdrawn from consideration for the post of Secretary of Health and Human Services. Daschle could not stand the heat not only of his current tax problems, but also the exposure of his previous tax avoidance...

I am warning you, do not click here to see one of the most fowl photos ever. That being the infamous "pigeon" smuggler, caught with his pants down. I would have posted the photo myself, but I would lose the few readers I have. ...

In the current controversy regarding Tom Daschle's failure to report income (and thereby evade the taxes on that income), Daschle has portrayed himself as the most honest person in America, who always intended to pay all the taxes he owes, and who simply made an...

A protestor in Cambridge, England, threw his shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao today, missing by a few feet. The photo at right (Darren Staples/AP) shows the shoe being picked up by a security guard.The video, although not as dramatic as the Bush-Iraq shoe throw...

As if it weren't bad enough that we are having one of the coldest winters in memory, the sea ice is at record levels, and hundreds of climatologists are questioning if not outright debunking Al Gore's hysterical predictions of global warming. Now, the rainforests are...

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads an Islamist party, recently ripped into Shimon Peres, President of Israel at the Davos forum, telling Peres "when it comes to killing, you know well how to kill.” Peres gave it right back to Erdogan, accusing Erdogan...

Get videos and more at The Other McCain and Gateway Pundit...

At least they spelled my name correctly:Over at Legal Insurrection Blog, they've been banging the drum for Governor Blagojevich and against a guilty verdict on the Impeachment for quite some time. Blogger William Jacobson has been pointing out Ricky Hendon as a guy who has...

Despite an impassioned last minute closing argument, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was found guilty by the Illinois Senate on the Article of Impeachment. The vote was 59-0 to convict Blagojevich of the single Article of Impeachment for abusing power. Elements of the Article included alleged...

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich just finished his closing argument in the Senate impeachment trial. In an impassioned argument, Blagojevich invoked images of his immigrant parents, the people he tried to help by providing health care benefits, and working families.Blagojevich followed a strategy of saving his...

I didn't expect to end up opposing the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. When the news first broke that Blagojevich was charged, among other things, with attempting to "sell" Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, I was inclined to follow the media and pundits in...

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's last minute request to present a closing argument at the Senate impeachment trial has everyone speculating what he is up to. While there are many good speculative arguments as to what Blagojevich will say, there is one argument that no one...

It has just been announced on the floor of the Illinois Senate, nearing the end of the trial, that Governor Rod Blagojevich wants to appear at the end of the trial to argue his case against impeachment. Blagojevich to date has refused to participate on...