Conference Honors Work of Professor George Priest
Yale Law School recognized George L. Priest and his lifetime of scholarly work with a two-day event, “Law and Markets: A Conference on Themes in the Work of George Priest,” held Sept. 6 and Sept. 7. Priest is the Edward J. Phelps Professor of Law and Economics at the Law School.
Dean Heather K. Gerken opened the conference on Friday with remarks in which she described Priest as a remarkably accomplished and one-of-a-kind academic.
“Describing George Priest is an impossible task because George is a creature of his own invention,” said Gerken. “As with all festschrifts, we are here to celebrate George’s scholarship, but we are also here to celebrate George the iconoclast — the charming truth-speaker, the beloved teacher, and the fierce and funny mentor.”
Priest, a leading expert in antitrust and insurance law, joined the Law School as Professor of Law in 1981 and has overseen the John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics and Public Policy since 1983.
Gerken’s remarks were followed by three panels, as well as a lunch talk featuring Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law Owen M. Fiss on “The Education of George Priest.”
The first panel, “Law, Risk, and Uncertainty,” was moderated by Sterling Professor of Law and Center for the Study of Corporate Law Co-Director Roberta Romano ’80, with Professor Jon Macey ’82 serving as commentator.
Professor and Solomon Center Faculty Director Abbe Gluck ’00 moderated the second panel, “Torts,” and Sterling Professor of Law Anthony T. Kronman ’75 served as commentator for the third panel, “Legal Institutions.” Several YLS alumni participated as panelists, including Yoon-Ho Alex Lee ’06, Peter Molk ’11, Kristen Ann Underhill ’11, Robert Pushaw ’88, Albert Choi ’01, Pamela S. Karlan ’84, and Paul Mahoney ’84.
Saturday’s panels focused on “Antitrust,” moderated by Sai Prakash ’93, and “Capitalism,” moderated by Professor Justin Driver with Carlos Patrón ’98 LLM serving as commentator. Panelists included Alfredo Bullard ’91 LLM, Professor Claire Priest ’00, Professor Emeritus Carol Rose, and Michael Trebilcock of the University of Toronto.
“It was a profound honor to have so many able and distinguished scholars attend,” said Priest.
The conference was supported by the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Fund, and articles will be published in the Yale Journal on Regulation.
