LEC’s 50th ANNIVERSARY To celebrate this remarkable milestone, the LEC hosted numerous special events, the headline of which was the “Manne Madness Tournament” – a competitive program that gathered judges from across the country for core courses on law and economics while identifying and rewarding outstanding lecturers in the field of law and economics. Labeled “impressive,” “excellent,” and “incredibly useful” by attendees, the Manne Madness Tournament lived up to its namesake.

HISTORY OF THE LEC Henry G. Manne founded the Law & Economics Center in 1974 at the University of Miami School of Law.  From its inception, the LEC was dedicated to offering the academic world regular conferences for scholars, both in law and in economics. It also published a newsletter reporting on academic developments in these fields. In 1976, the LEC began offering what would become its flagship programs for federal judges. The LEC moved to Emory University in 1980, and then to George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in 1986 when Henry Manne became dean (a historic move described here), and developed a curriculum for law students that integrates economic and quantitative tools, stressing the application of non-legal methods in legal contexts.

32 LECTURERS ACROSS 4 REGIONAL ROUNDS Henry N. Butler, Chairman of the LEC, developed the Manne Madness Tournament as an educationally exhilarating way to celebrate 50 years of teaching the application of economic analysis to legal and public policy issues. The tournament consisted of a series of four regional double-elimination tournaments with eight professors lecturing in each regional. Over the four regional events, thirty-two tournament competitors gave a total of 104 lectures to 237 judges. Regional winners headed to Miami for the finale, the Elite Eight National Championship. LECTURE SHOWDOWN IN MIAMI Miami’s National Championship featured eight professors (the winner and runner-up from each regional round):

• Arthur Martin Edwards (University of Mississippi School of Law)
• Kenneth G. Elzinga (University of Virginia)
• Jim Hawkins (University of Houston Law Center)
• M. Todd Henderson (University of Chicago Law School)
• Jonathan Klick (University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School)
• Bryan C. McCannon (Illinois Wesleyan University)
• Michael C. Munger (Duke University)
• Catherine M. Sharkey (New York University School of Law)

WINNERS CHOSEN BY 396 FEDERAL & STATE JUDGES Nearly 400 federal and state judges participated in the selection of tournament winners, across the five weeks of Manne Madness programs, and 159 of them adjudicated the final rounds in Miami, where they heard twenty lectures over the course of four days. Many of those judges commented that lectures presented were of the highest caliber, often making it difficult to choose between competitors. One-by-one the competitors were challenged and lost to our two finalists – Professor M. Todd Henderson (University of Chicago Law School) and Professor Catherine M. Sharkey (New York University School of Law). Two worthy competitors going head-to-head, but only one could win it all.

AND THE WINNER IS … Ultimately, our judges voted Professor Henderson as the Manne Madness National Champion and the recipient of the $50,000 grand prize.