Prof. Taylor R. Dalton joined the Santa Clara Law faculty in 2022. He focuses on international law and courts, international humanitarian law, foreign relations law, and civil procedure.Why do you write?
I write for many reasons. Principally, I write to think and to communicate. Writing helps me wrestle with ideas and confront my assumptions or lacking knowledge. Materializing the swirl of ideas in my head onto the page allows me to tame my thought process and hone my understanding. Writing also allows me to dialogue with others across time and space. I can invoke ideas from thinkers centuries ago while engaging with a global community of scholars. Something is thrilling about that enterprise. In short, I find writing fun.
Is there a scholar who most inspires you?
This is difficult to answer. The qualities that inspire me the most are life-long curiosity, an energetic search for the truth, and service to society.
What do you think has been your most impactful work?
Some of my blog posts on civil litigation in the federal courts were useful for both attorneys and judges. However, an early paper on private property rights on celestial bodies in outer space has generated sustained interest, especially as the space-faring industry has matured.
What impact did it have?
I understand that the data analysis in the blog posts related to case duration and the relationship between case filings and the economy–especially during the COVID-19 pandemic–was well-received. Likewise, my writing on property rights in space has been part of the dialogue on how the field should develop, given the entry of more private actors into the space.
What work are you most proud of and why?
At the moment, I am most proud of my dissertation, Things Fall Apart: The Unraveling of International Institutions, which was the capstone to years of research on how states use treaties as fora for bargaining over important international issues. The data collected and insights generated from that work will be useful to future research on international cooperation. This project has resulted in several standalone papers assessing different aspects of treaty exit.
What’s your next project?
Building on my work about international institutions and arms control, I am thinking through how international law and norms can regulate the use of artificial intelligence as a weapon. Because artificial intelligence is and will continue to permeate many aspects of cooperation and competition between nations, it will be important to understand what institutional designs will or will not be effective.
