Post-War Planning (or My New Job)

I recently received an offer from the Cato Institute -- the preeminent libertarian think tank in Washington -- to become Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. I'm delighted to announce that, after careful consideration, I have decided to accept this offer.

This is a wonderful opportunity that came along quite serendipitously; I was not looking to make a move from my firm, which I had only joined in March 2006. Nevertheless, you can't always pick your timing, and I had to jump on this when it was proposed to me.

The job will essentially allow me to be a public intellectual, advancing the ideas of rule of law, limited government, and free markets in any way I envision. About a quarter of my time will be spent on the Cato Supreme Court Review, an annual journal presenting articles by an array of legal scholars on that year's Supreme Court decisions. The rest of the time I am free to write articles for popular and academic publications, organize conferences, make media appearances, teach law school classes, commission and draft amicus briefs, and do pretty much anything else that advances Cato's agenda -- and, more specifically, that of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies. Those of you who know me know that this is, or can be if I do it right, my dream job.

My army adventures and time in Iraq have thus become a sort of sabbatical -- and a fitting transition period between private legal practice and the world of ideas and policy. I do not take this step lightly, but it is the right thing for me.

Turning 30, as I did exactly one month ago, gives one pause to consider one's direction in life. With this move, I'm comfortable with my journey and ready for the challenges that lie ahead.