David Tan

valentine's day isn't just for couples, it's also a day to celebrate love. for instance, i would love it if housing prices came down.

I'm really excited to be giving this talk next Friday, even if it will be midnight here while doing it. Log in and join me so you can hear me talk about my current obsession: Stories

From research on academic presentations by economists:

New implied freedom of political communication case coming up.

Torts Professor Who Botched COVID Prediction Suddenly Expert On Birthright Citizenship - Above the Law The law professor who predicted only 500 Americans would die of COVID is back with another expertise-free take.

"Kreis, along with professors @evanbernick.bsky.social and @gowder.io, anticipated [historically unfounded claims] in a Cornell Law Review piece. Their assessment of academics who suddenly discovered anti-birthright citizenship arguments is appropriately brutal." abovethelaw.com/2026/01/tort...

"Don't forget to add the bit about people only having rights if they agree with what the government is doing."

Bird watching

The guy that runs the Reddit where people post about patting their cat on the butt like bongos has put his foot down

This is a very apt description of my cat, he is very posh!

My cat ran inside all of a sudden and looked a bit spooked. I went outside to see a pigeon just hopping around. I suspect my cat would not have survived in the wild.

It gets crazier by the minute.

Tan on Legal Knowledge and Inference David Tan (Deakin University, Geelong, Australia - Deakin Law School) has posted Is it possible to have legal knowledge without legal inference? on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Is there a systematic and proper method of legal reasoning or is legal reasoning more open-ended and organic and leading to pluralistic conclusions? I refer to a system of legal inference as a system of legal reasoning that fits the first description; ie there is a systematic and proper methodology for drawing conclusions based on certain premises.

Tan on Legal Knowledge and Inference

David Tan (Deakin University, Geelong, Australia - Deakin Law School) has posted Is it possible to have legal knowledge without legal inference? on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Is there a systematic and proper method of legal reasoning or is legal reasoning more…

Come learn the 10 tips for building impact in your research!

Trump says eight European countries face 10% tariff for opposing US control of Greenland – Europe live Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Finland will face tariffs from 1 February

Trump says eight European countries face 10% tariff for opposing US control of Greenland – Europe live

I don't know about all of you, but I am finding it difficult to process Venezuela, Greenland, Minneapolis, and the Fed all at once.

Journal paper on fitness of horses

I was looking up a paper on legislatures and public policy, and the publisher's algorithm suggested this to me???

Federal Prosecutors Are Said to Have Opened Inquiry Into Fed Chair Powell

Dear god

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...

A giant yellow sign on the side of the road announces “YOU ARE ENTERING A FRUIT FLY CONTROLLED AREA” and below that in smaller letters “Make sure you know the rules.”

I don’t think we should have ceded control quite so quickly and without so much as a fight.

The book more generally is on epistemologies of law which can be found here: www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/b...

Have a chapter out on the connections between the idea of rules of inference and whether it's necessary for legal knowledge: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

“These findings provide clear evidence that data collected on MTurk simply cannot be trusted.”

academic life in a nutshell.

Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United

We’re withdrawing from the International Law Commission??? This whole list is absolutely insane.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

63. Bombing Caracas: The Use of Force, Abducting a Head of State, and the Unravelling of International Law In this special bonus episode of Called to the Bar, the full podcast crew assembles to confront the legal fallout from the US bombing of Venezuela and the abduction of its sitting president, Nicolás M

New Called to the Bar episode: the full crew unpacks the US bombing of Venezuela and the abduction of Nicolás Maduro. UN Charter violations, head of state immunity, and why Washington no longer seems troubled by illegality. Bleak, sharp, and very 2026.
#CalledToTheBar
soundcloud.com/calledtotheb...

a guy wearing a “i ❤️ ny” cap reading the qur’an in one hand and the communist manifesto in the other

day one in mamdani’s new york

Reddit post asking what martial arts jesus would have access to

Someone is working on their Jesus MMA script/novel

Great to see @pagingdrpaige.bsky.social's review of my @cambup-law.cambridge.org monograph, Statehood as Political Community in the @iclq.bsky.social!

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Deakin law school is going to be running a webinar information session on our JD course.

If you’re considering the JD or know someone who is, we'd love for you to join us this January.

Register here: study.deakin.edu.au/webinar/juri...

This! For it to be a war crime there needs to be a war (question of fact – Tadic) and to exercise self defence there needs to be an armed attack (Oil Platforms). Neither condition is satisfied at a factual level. As such this is a Crime Against Humanity (or just murder)