William S. Stevens dies

William S. Stevens who authored the famous article, The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule, while a student at the University of Pennsylvania died on December 8, 2008.

The following excerpts are from William Grimes, William S. Stevens, 60, Dies; Wrote Infield Fly Note, NY Times, Dec. 11, 2008:

Published as a semi-parodic “aside” in June 1975, “The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule” quickly achieved legal fame, in part because nothing like it had ever appeared in a major law review, in part because of its concise, elegant reasoning. It continues to be cited by courts and legal commentators. It is taught in law schools. It is credited with giving birth to the law and baseball movement, a thriving branch of legal studies devoted to the law and its social context. It made lawyers think about the law in a different way.

“It encouraged a whole generation of law students, some of whom became law-review editors, to look at subjects previously beyond the pale,” said Robert M. Jarvis, a law professor at the Nova Southeastern University * * *.