I have been, like Nick, a longtime reader of the Volokh Conspiracy, and am honored and delighted to enter the cabal.
My scholarship focuses on constitutional and international law, and in keeping with the maxim to stick with what you (are in theory supposed to) know, my posts will likely focus on public law. The Israeli-Arab conflict is another major interest, especially its legal aspects, but David Bernstein has first dibs. Hopefully I’ll have a thing to say about culture and other light topics, in keeping with the traditions of the blog.
Some commenters mentioned the number of Russian Jews in the Conspiracy. In fact, we are a minority. The more impressive datum is that fully half of us are Evgenii Vladmiroviches born to mathematical families in Kiev, with a professor brother named Sasha. When I was honored with the Federalist Society’s Bator Award last spring, I remarked that I was one step closer to my impersonation of Eugene Volokh. Today, I take another step in that direction, and it is a testament to the strength of Eugene’s brand that he does not fear what trademarks folks call confusing similarity.
I look forward to meeting the readers through their comments. In the meantime, I will be giving a few talks in the coming days in California, and if VC readers come, I encourage them to introduce themselves.
1) “What the U.S. Elections Mean for Israel: Settlements and Statehood”: Los Angeles, Monday 7:15pm; also Tuesday noon, UC Davis Law Federalist Society.
2) “The Second Class Second Amendment”: Monday 12:45, Fullerton, CA (Western State Law School Federalist Society); also Tuesday 5pm, Sacramento, CA (McGeorge Federalist Society)
3) “What Piracy Teaches About the Limits of International Law”: Monday 4:15, Claremont-McKenna Hamilton Society