Last week the George Mason U. School of Law in Virginia held its second annual Henry G. Manne Law and Economics Conference, on the theme “Unlocking the Law: Building on the Work of Larry E. Ribstein,” in honor of the late University of Illinois legal scholar (and friend). Among the panelists and moderators were Henry Manne, dean emeritus of the school; John McGinnis of Northwestern; Judge Douglas Ginsburg of the D.C. Circuit; William Henderson of Indiana; and Benjamin Barton of Tennessee. I live-tweeted a few of the many interesting papers. Some highlights, in downward chronological order rather than the Twitter-standard reverse:

At George Mason U. Law & Econ conference in honor of late Larry Ribstein #GMULaw First panel’s on legal education

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

John McGinnis paper proposes undergrad option for legal education, common in other countries but banned here #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

Henry Manne observes existing law school profs would fight tooth/nail against undergrad alternative. McGinnis: “well aware” of that #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

Doug Ginsburg, moderating: Milton Friedman’s writing on medical licensing prefigured a lot of this discussion #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

Henry Manne cites @catoinstitute study on how there are really no “nonprofit” universities, faculty captures the residuals #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

McGinnis: worst waste in 7-year law training (4 undergrad + 3 law school) is not tuition but opportunity cost of students’ time #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

William Henderson speaking on economic trends in BigLaw. Total law firm employment peaked in 2004, down 5% #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

Henderson: meanwhile, employment in “All Other Legal Services” category growing very fast. These are firms owned by non lawyers. #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

Henderson: Until crisis most laterals moved “up” to more highly ranked firms, now most move “down.” “It’s like the Hunger Games.” #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

Ben Barton on disruption of law firm biz model: “20% of new LLCs in Calif. in 2011 were LegalZoom-based” (automated form provider) #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

Barton: by 10 years from now, will firms like LegalZoom succeed in automating pro se litigation? If so, revolutionary #GMUlaw

— overlawyered (@overlawyered) November 9, 2012

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