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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 February 11, 2009 1 Comment

Now I know for sure what Congress and the Obama administration think of us. Reports indicate that the "compromise" stimulus bill will be $789,000,000,000. Why that number? Because it's not $800,000,000,000. Whew, that makes me feel better. It's not $800 billion. I'll buy it.Think I'm...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 11, 2009 1 Comment

We are witnessing the disrobing of the Obama aura in a spending-drenched feeding frenzy befitting hungry pigs at a wet, putrid trough. The fierce urgency of now has become the fierce urgency of sow.Camille Paglia sums up these first three weeks of the Obama era:Money...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2009 0 Comments

The Democratic "stimulus" plan is packed full of all sorts of goodies. Just today, everyone is finding out that someone slipped in a provision to anoint a national health czar. Senator Arlen Specter, one of just three Republicans to support the bill, expressed surprise upon...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2009 2 Comments

At his press conference last night, Barack Obama singled out Elkhart, Indiana, as a place of special gloom and doom:I took a trip to Elkhart, Indiana, today. Elkhart is a place that has lost jobs faster than anywhere else in America. In one year, the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 09, 2009 8 Comments

Barack Obama held his first press conference as President tonight. With the "stimulus" plans on the table at the House and Senate, the press had an opportunity to show that it no longer was slobbering over Obama. The press failed. Not a single reporter challenged...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 09, 2009 2 Comments

As an early teen, I was fascinated with Abbie Hoffman's "Steal This Book." The book, by the 60's radical Yippie, was a guide to using the capitalist system to destroy the capitalist system. Hoffman gave advice on how to cheat various institutions, such as the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 09, 2009 2 Comments

I tried sending an e-mail to Senator Susan Collins, but her e-mail box is overflowing. I received the following error message:Delivery has failed to these recipients or distribution lists:[email protected] The recipient's mailbox is full and can't accept messages now. Microsoft Exchange will not try to...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 08, 2009 0 Comments

Hilda Solis, a Congresswoman from California, is Barack Obama's nominee for Secretary of Labor. Solis is under fire for her husband's failure to pay business taxes, and her own failure to disclose that she was involved with a union lobbying organization for which she sought...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 05, 2009 9 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 05, 2009 4 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 04, 2009 0 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 03, 2009 3 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 03, 2009 2 Comments

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. ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 03, 2009 0 Comments

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...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 02, 2009 0 Comments

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...

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