When my former mentor, Ted Eisenberg (1947-2014), periodically reminded me that "it is difficult to overestimate the influence of selection effects in litigation," his point of reference was a seminal 1984 article, The Selection of Disputes for Litigation. Sadly, one-half of the "Priest-Klein" hypothesis, George L. Priest, the Edward J. Phelps Professor of Law and Economics at Yale Law School, passed away recently.
Yale Law School's memorial notice echoes what Ted emphasized for decades, "[Priest's] 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.” Empirical scholars, and many others, mourn Prof. Priest's passing.
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