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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.

Harry Reid made the following statement yesterday regarding the Democrats' flip-flop on closing the prison at Guantanomo Bay, and bringing the detainees to prisons in the United States. Reid rejected the idea, stating:"Can't put them in prison unless you release them."The internal inconsistency of the...

We are in the process of nationalizing and/or federalizing vast stretches of our economy, including the auto industry, banks, and health care. Individual property rights have taken a back seat to political priorities.I am against this trampling of individual property rights, which are the foundation...

The controversy over Nancy Pelosi's accusation that the CIA repeatedly misled her and Congress as to detainee interrogation has taken a new turn: Word games.What Pelosi knew, when she knew it, and what she did in reaction, rightly has become a center of attention because...

A Pakistani newspaper, The Nation, published a story claiming that former Vice President Dick Cheney ran an assassination squad which killed, among others, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan:Former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on the orders of the special death squad formed by...

My article, Nancy Pelosi Is The Central Issue, appears today at American Thinker:Nancy Pelosi recently accused the CIA of misleading Congress as to interrogation techniques employed against three al-Qaeda leaders. The CIA pushed back, claiming that Pelosi was given truthful details at briefings at least...

My comments appear at 0.30 of the video, here.(I have removed the embedded CBS video since it apparently had an auto-run feature which understandably annoyed some viewers; if I can figure out how to get rid of the auto-run, I'll repost it)--------------------------------------------Follow me on Twitter...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has denied being briefed in September 2002 about the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah. Pelosi claims she was told that the technique had not been used (when in fact it had been used a month earlier). Pelosi uses this September...

Two heartbeats away from President Barack Obama, in the line of succession, sits the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.Two heartbeats away from the Presidency sits someone who has alleged that the Central Intelligence Agency repeatedly misled Congress as to the interrogation of...

Obama knows that there is no way to pay for universal health care insurance coverage. He also knows that there is no way to borrow enough money for such coverage. The well is running dry on the national credit card.The solution: Cut health care costs...

As my loyal readers know, I long have been a fan of the Google Ads algorithm. The ad on this blog for Big Beautiful Women continues to generate an amazing number of hits, usually from a google search by someone seeking a big beautiful woman....

Critics, including me, of Obama's economic plans have made the point that the unprecedented huge deficits necessary to pay for expanded health insurance coverage, college education guarantees, the present and future "stimulus" plans, infrastructure projects, budget expansion, financing and operational takeovers of the auto industry...

Nancy Pelosi is holding a press conference in which she has acknowledged being briefed by the CIA about waterboarding in 2002, but accuses the CIA of lying to Congress about the use of the technique and whether the techniques were legal. Pelosi also acknowledged, when...

Give praise where praise is due. Barack Obama acted wisely in deciding to continue appealing the court-ordered release of detainee abuse photos.These photos, by the way, have nothing to do with the controversial interrogation program which was the subject of the four legal memoranda recently...

Many Democrats in Congress have pushed for release of documents and the holding of hearings on waterboarding and other interrogation methods. Putting aside for now whether the release of such information should take place, it appears that Obama started the ball rolling down hill by...

His name is George McGovern. He was a war hero, who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross in World War II. He also ran for President once upon a time. And has been a liberal icon for decades due to his opposition to the Vietnam War.He's...

On the controversy surrounding Miss California's statement at the Miss USA pageant that she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, Donald Trump embarrassed those in Hollywood and the left-wing blogosphere who tried to portray her answer as hate speech or bigoted....

Cass Sunstein has a problem if he wants to get on the Supreme Court. It's not his intellect or credentials. According to Elena Kagan, also a contender for the high court, "Cass Sunstein is the pre-eminent legal scholar of our time — the most wide-ranging,...

Kraft Foods has issued a formal request that users of Dijon mustard receive a presidential pardon (click on photo below for full text): "So we urge you to respond to “Dijon-gate” by issuing a “pardon” to any American who has ever been criticized for putting...