Event Details

Date: August 4 – 9, 2024
Venue: InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile
Division: The Henry G. Manne Program in Law & Economics Studies

LEC Fall 2024 Henry G. Manne Program in Law & Economics Studies Opportunities

MANNE MADNESS TOURNAMENT
The Law & Economics Center’s Fiftieth Anniversary BASH!
$50,000 CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZE
$164,000 Total Purse

INVITATION TO APPLY TO COMPETE!

Our celebratory educational programming lineup for Fall 2024 is now open for registration!

The Law & Economics Center (LEC) at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School was founded by Henry G. Manne at the University of Miami in 1974. The LEC moved to Emory University in 1980, and then to George Mason in 1986 when Henry Manne became dean (that historic move is described here). The LEC will be celebrating this remarkable milestone with numerous special events during the 2024-25 academic year.

The headline event of the LEC’s 50^th Anniversary is the Manne Madness Tournament – a competitive program that will identify and reward outstanding lecturers in the field of law and economics. Federal and state judges will serve as the tournaments’ officials – striped shirts are not required.

We invite professors of law, economics, and law & economics to apply to compete in the Manne Madness Tournament. The procedures for applying to lecture in this competition are outlined at the end of this brief.

The Manne Madness Tournament will consist of a series of four regional double-elimination tournaments (with eight contestants in each regional). The regional tournaments will reduce the number of contestants from 32 to an Elite Eight of finalists. The Championship Tournament of Manne Madness will be held at the famous (at least in Law & Economics circles) Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach. The LEC provides a modest honorarium to all contestants, in addition to covering hotel expenses and group meals.

The Champion of Manne Madness will receive a $50,000 Championship Prize.

The Manne Madness Tournament Details

Manne Madness! Thirty-two professors will compete in regional double-elimination tournaments with eight lecturers per regional tournament. Competitions will be held in the mornings all days, and into the afternoon (ending at 2:30 pm) just one day. This format allows competitors to enjoy the tournament venue or prepare for upcoming lectures.
- “ELITE EIGHT” – the top two lecturers from each regional will advance to the Manne Madness National Championship which will occur in December 2024 in Miami –the birthplace of the Law & Economics Center.

Federal and state judges who have attended prior LEC Judicial Education Programs will evaluate the contestants. The goal is to have professors use economic concepts to analyze interesting legal and public policy issues in a manner that provides lasting impact on judges. Judges will be asked to rate the professors on the preceding goal – with an appreciation of each professor’s style, substance, entertaining manner, ability to create a memorable learning experience, and humor in achieving that goal.

At the application site, you can rank your preferences to attend any of the four regional tournaments and apply for the Championship in Miami at the same time.

Manne Madness Regional Tournament Schedule
(application form will request you order your preferences for which to attend)

Chicago Regional Tournament, Sunday, August 4, 2024 to Friday, August 9, 2024, at InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile in Chicago, IL
Las Vegas Regional Tournament, Sunday, September 15, 2024 to Friday, September 20, 2024, at The Four Seasons in Las Vegas, NV
San Diego Regional Tournament, Sunday, October 20, 2024 to Friday, October 25, 2024 at Hotel Republic in San Diego, CA
Nashville Regional Tournament, Sunday, November 10, 2024 to Friday, November 15, 2024 at Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN

With the Championship tournament in Miami:

“Manne Madness” Miami Elite Eight Championship, Sunday, December 8, 2024 to Friday, December 13, 2024 at Eden Roc in Miami Beach, FL

APPLY HERE!

To recap and offer a bit more detail:

Eight contestants will be chosen for each regional. Accepted contestants must commit to being available for the entire week of their assigned regional tournament and the entire week of the Championship round if they emerge from their regional tournament. In applying for an invitation to participate in Manne Madness, applicants can rank their preferences for regional tournaments.
Once the eight contestants for each regional tournament pool have been assigned, the LEC leadership will randomly pair the brackets.
Sixty judges will attend evaluate and rank contestants in each regional tournament. The attending judges will also serve as the tournament voters.
The judges will vote for the best lecturer after each pairing. The LEC will advise the judges to consider, when voting, the overall pedagogical value and lasting educational impact of the lecture, the quality of the material, the effectiveness of the teaching, their engagement with the audience, their sensitivity to the character of the audience, the utility of the material to the judges’ work, the depth of insights gained from the lecture, and the clarity of the material and of its presentation, among others. Strategic use of humor is often appreciated by the judges.
From Regional Tournament to Manne Madness Championship Tournament:
The victorious contestants from the winners bracket and the winner of the losers bracket will move on to the Manne Madness Championship Tournament. Eight contestants (2 winners from each regional) will compete at the Manne Madness Championship Tournament on Sunday, December 8, 2024 — Friday, December 13, 2024 at Eden Roc in Miami Beach. More than 150 judges will determine the fate of contestants in the final contest.
At the start of the Championship Tournament, the number one finishers from each regional will be paired in brackets against number two seeds from a different regional.
Competitors may not deliver the same lecture more than once at any regional tournament. Thus, every lecturer who applies and is selected must arrive at the regional competition prepared to give as many as four distinct lectures before the end of the week. Adapted versions of lectures used at regional tournaments may be used in the Elite Eight in Miami.
All Elite Eight lectures will be recorded and made available on the LEC website and distributed to the LEC network.
Compensation and Expenses for Contestants
The LEC makes hotel arrangements, direct-pay for hotel rooms, and sponsors group meals for competitors.
All competitors at regional events receive $2,000 honorarium for delivering their lectures, from which the LEC expects them to cover their own travel and incidental expenses.
Competitors who advance to the Championship Round in Miami will receive the following payments instead of the $2,000 honorarium mentioned above:
First place regional champions who advance to Miami are guaranteed a $6,000 total honorarium after participating in Miami.
Second place regional contestants who advance to Miami are guaranteed a $4,000 total honorarium after participating in Miami.
Second place contestant in the Big Dance in Miami receives $10,000 prize plus either the $4,000 or $6,000 honorarium.
The Manne Madness Champion receives the Championship Trophy, $50,000 prize, plus either the $4,000 or $6,000 honorarium.

We encourage potential contestants to apply as soon as possible at the application form available here. Full details about the application requirements are available by clicking on that link.

The LEC will begin reviewing applications and making lecturer offers starting February 28, 2024. While we hope to fill most slots from the pool of applicants received on or before February 28, we expect some slots may remain open. Thus, we will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis after February 28 and may extend offers based on applications received after that date.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Donald Kochan, Professor of Law and Executive Director of the LEC, at dkochan2@gmu.edu.