George L. Priest, ’73, 1947-2024
Yale Law School Mourns the Loss of Edward J. Phelps Professor of Law and Economics George L. Priest
George L. Priest, the Edward J. Phelps Professor of Law and Economics at Yale Law School, died on Dec. 17, 2024, at the age of 77.
“Professor Priest was a distinguished scholar, revered teacher, and fierce mentor,” said Dean Heather K. Gerken. “A scholarly pioneer, George left a legion of ideas in his wake. He was also a beloved member of our community, someone who managed to be an intellectual giant with great warmth, humor, and modesty. He made us think, and he made us laugh. And we all mourn his loss.”
Priest joined Yale Law School in 1981 and was named the John M. Olin Professor of Law and Economics in 1986. He was a director of the John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Public Policy, which supported the development of the field of law and economics at Yale; the Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization; and Yale Law School’s Law, Economics, and Organization Workshop. With Steven Shavell of Harvard and A. Mitchell Polinsky of Stanford, he co-founded the American Law and Economics Association, an organization that thrives today. Priest served as the Association’s first president from 1991 to 1992.
His 1984 article (with UCLA economist Benjamin Klein) “The Selection of Disputes for Litigation,” revolutionized theories of the common law and engendered decades of inquiry regarding the probability of litigation outcomes. The article presented what became known as the “Priest-Klein hypothesis” and introduced the concept of selection bias into legal literature.
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