Student Writing Competitions
Sort competitions by Deadline Date (earliest or latest) or Title or Added/Updated Date
For more information on any of these writing competitions, see the Student Writing Competition board on the First Floor; note the Competition # below each entry.
College Labor & Employment Lawyers Writing Competition
Deadline: Thursday, 5/15/2008
Award: 1st Prize: $1,500; 2nd Prize: $1,000; 3rd Prize: $500
Website: www.laborandemploymentcollege.org
TOPIC: The scope of permissible topics is broad i.e. any aspect of public or private labor or employment law. Students are encouraged to present a (a) public policy issue, (b) critique f a leading case or doctrine, (c) comment on a statute or the need for a statutory modification, (d) comment on a common law doctrine. ELIGIBILITY: All currently enrolled law students attending accredited law schools in the United States. Articles must be original from the applicant. Each student entrant is limited to one entry; student's article must not presently be under consideration for any other publication or written as part of paid employment. ARTICLE FORMAT: Typewritten, with computer disk attached, or submitted by e-mail to info@laboranemploymentcollege.org (reference "Writing Competition" in the subject line); double-spaced; on 8 1/2" x 11" paper, 1" margins; entries should be 10 to 20 pages in length (inclusive of endnotes); citations are to conform to "A Uniform System of Citation" (The Bluebook). MAILING ADDRESS: Susan Wan, Executive Director, The College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, 1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036-5306. NOTE: Include a cover letter with your entry stating your name, mailing address and phone number (both school and permanent), name of school and year of graduation.
Competition #6 (Added/Updated: Monday, 10/1/2007)
International Association of Defense Counsel Legal Writing Contest
Deadline: Friday, 5/16/2008
Award: 1st Place: $2,000; 2nd Place: $1,000; 3rd Place: $500
Website: www.iadclaw.org/contest.cfm
SPONSOR: The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC). Founded in 1920, IADC is an association of lawyers, barristers, solicitors, corporate counsel, and insurance executives from 17 nations.
TOPIC: Entries must be submitted on a subject of practical concern to lawyers engaged in the defense or management of the defense of civil litigation, such as, relevant aspects of tort law, insurance law, civil procedure, evidence, damages, alternative dispute resolution procedures, and professional ethics.
ELIGIBILITY: Competition is open to students enrolled in the 2007-08 academic year as J.D. candidates in accredited law schools in the United States and Canada.
REQUIREMENTS: (1) Entries must be submitted in the English language; (2) Entries must be certified by the entrant on the IADC entry form (found on their website) to be the original and sole work of the entrant; (3) At the time of submission, the entry must not have been published or accepted for publication.
FORMAT: (1) There is no strict limitation on the length of entries, but succinctness and the frugal use of footnotes are encouraged. Suggested word limit: 12,000 words, including footnotes; (2) Entries must be type-written in Microsoft Word; (3) Footnotes should appear on the page referenced in the text; (4) Use The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (18th edition) for style.
SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY TO: Amy O'Maley at: aomaley@iadclaw.org
Competition #36 (Added/Updated: Tuesday, 3/25/2008)
The Ninth Annual Program for Judicial Awareness Writing Competition
Deadline: Friday, 5/30/2008
Award: 1st Place: $5,000; 2nd Place: $3,000; 3rd Place: $1,500
Website: www.pacificlegal.org
SPONSOR: Pacific Legal Foundation.
TOPICS: Entries should thoroughly address pertinent case law and applicable academic literature on one of the following topics:
TOPIC I: In recent years, the Supreme Court has reiterated that its primary test for violations of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment is the multi-factored analysis of Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York, 438 U.S. 104 (1978). Using the criteria set out in that case, what sort(s) of land-use regulations do you think are most likely to be struck down as regulatory takings over the coming decade, and why?
TOPIC II: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin. Should this ban be understood to mandate special accommodations (e.g., free translation services) for non-English speakers? Why or why not?
TOPIC III: Traditionally, courts found that government regulators violated the substantive due process rights of property owners if their actions were found to be arbitrary and capricious. However, some jurisdictions have ruled that such violations are only triggered by government action that "shocks the conscience." See, e.g., Mongeau v. City of Marlborough, 2007 WL 1793137 (1st Cir. 2007). Explain why the "shocks the conscience" standard is inappropriate to gauge substantive violations of the Due Process Clause in cases involving property rights.
ELIGIBILITY: All submissions must be original works of publishable quality and should comply with the Harvard Law Review Association's Bluebook Uniform System of Citation (18th ed.), or the Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.).
FORMAT: There is no page limit for entries, although a word count of 8,000 to 14, 000 words is suggested.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Electronic submissions are preferred, and must be transmitted in pdf format. Entries may be submitted in any of three ways:
Through our website at: http://www.pacificlegal.org/?mvcTask=writingCompetition&sub=submissionForm
Email: clt@pacificlegal.org
Mail to address below.
MAIL ENTRIES TO:
Judicial Awareness Writing Competition
Pacific Legal Foundation
3900 Lennane Drive, Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95834
Competition #14 (Added/Updated: Tuesday, 10/23/2007)
The Alice Paul Feminist Jurisprudence Essay Contest
Deadline: Sunday, 6/1/2008
Award: 1st Place: $1,000
Website: www.wcl.american.edu/gender/wlp/
SPONSOR: The Women and Law and Legal Rhetoric Programs of American University Washington College of Law.
TOPIC: Entries should reflect a creative feminist approach to law.
ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to all law students at U.S. and Canadian law schools .
FORMAT: (1) Entries must not exceed 50 pages, including notes; (2) Co-authored essays are allowed; (3) Entries must be original, unpublished work.
SUBMITTAL INFORMATION: For all submissions please include a cover letter. In your cover letter be sure to include:
All of your contact information (name, address, phone number). The name of the Law School where you are currently enrolled and your graduation year.
ONLINE SUBMISSIONS: Please email your entry (with cover letter) to apessaycontest@wcl.american.edu .
OR
MAIL SUBMISSIONS:
American University Washington College of Law
The Alice Paul Feminist Jurisprudence Essay Contest
Women and the Law Program
4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 418
Washington, DC 20016-8184
Competition #23 (Added/Updated: Tuesday, 1/15/2008)
NLGLA Michael Greenberg Writing Competition
Deadline: Sunday, 6/1/2008
Award: 1st Place: $3,000; 2nd Place: $2,000; 3rd Place: $1,000
Website: www.nlgla.org
SPONSOR: The National Lesbian & Gay Law Association (NLGLA).
TOPIC: A cutting edge legal issue affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Intersex community.
ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to students enrolled in an accredited law school during the 2007-2008 academic year.
REQUIREMENTS: (1) Entries should be a scholarly piece fit for publication in a law review; (2) Published papers or papers to be published in other publications are ineligible; (3) Each individual may submit only one entry and group entries will not be accepted; (4) Entries should be the sole work of the author and should not yet have undergone editing by others. Editing includes any significant revision as well as technical or substantive review of citations. Informal support, such as general comments on preliminary drafts, is allowed.
FORMAT: (1) Entries should be no longer than 25 single-sided pages including footnotes (entries containing endnotes or including appendices or supplemental material will not be considered); (2) Use one-inch margins and 12-point Times New Roman font with double-spaced text; (3) Entries should follow standard Note format, including 18th edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation; (4) Entries must be submitted in English; (5) Entries must be submitted electronically in either Microsoft Word or PDF format; (6) Entrants should not include their name or the name of their school on the competition paper itself. Instead, participants should submit a cover page indicating their name, school, permanent address, and telephone number.
SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY TO:
writingcompetition@nlgla.org
Please write "NLGLA Writing Competition" in the Subject Line.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
NLGLA - Law Student Division co-chair, Alvin Lee
alvin.lee@nlgla.org
Competition #35 (Added/Updated: Wednesday, 3/12/2008)
American Judges Association Twentieth Annual Law Student Essay Competition
Deadline: Monday, 6/2/2008
Award: 1st Prize: $3,000; 2nd Prize: $1,500; 3rd Prize: $1,000
Website: www.americanjudgesassociation.us
TOPIC: Essays submitted MUST be under the category of "Search and Seizure Arising from Motor Vehicle Stops."
ELIGIBILITY: (1) Essays not determined to meet the Topic qualification (noted above) will not be evaluated; (2) All papers shall be the original, unpublished work of an individual student, but may have been prepared as a course assignment. Normal guidance of law school faculty is permitted.
REQUIREMENTS:(1) The cover page of the paper shall include the title and the author's name, current mailing and email addresses and telephone number, and shall be attached only to the original essay; (2) The author's name should appear only on the cover page and the entry form; (3) The title and page number must appear at the top of each page of the paper.
FORMAT: (1) Papers should be typed, double-spaced, on 8 1/2 x 11 inch white paper, and 10-25 pages in length; (2) Extensive footnoting or end noting is discouraged and is included in the paper's length; (3) Citations, footnotes, and endnotes should be in accord with the current edition of A Uniform System of Citation.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Submission of a paper, and ten (10) copies, with one cover page and completed entry form constitutes entry.
MAIL ENTRIES TO:
American Judges Association
Law Student Essay Competition
300 Newport Avenue
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185-4147
CONTACT INFORMATION: see http://aja.ncsc.dni.us
Competition #10 (Added/Updated: Monday, 10/22/2007)
The American Judges Association (AJA) Twentieth Annual Law Student Essay Competition
Deadline: Monday, 6/2/2008
Award: 1st Place: $3,000; 2nd Place: $1,500; 3rd Place: $1,000
Website: www.americanjudgesassociation.us
TOPIC: Search and Seizure Arising from Motor Vehicle Stops.
REQUIREMENTS: (1) Entry shall include a cover page which should include the title and the author's name, current mailing and e-mail address, and telephone number and shall be attached only to the original essay. The author's name should appear only on the cover page on the entry form; (2) The title and page number must appear at the top of each page of the paper; (3) All papers shall be the original, unpublished work of an individual student, but may have been prepared as a course assignment. Normal guidance of law school faculty is permitted.
FORMAT: (1) Paper should be typed, double-spaced, on 8 1/2 x 11 inch white paper; (2) Papers should be 10-25 pages in length; (3) Extensive footnoting or endnoting is discouraged and is included in the paper's length; (4) Citations, footnotes, and endnotes should be in accord with the current edition of A Uniform System of Citation.
MAIL ORIGINAL, 10 COPIES, COVER LETTER & COMPLETED ENTRY FORM TO:
American Judges Association
Law Student Essay Competition
300 Newport Avenue
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185-4147
ADDRESS QUESTIONS TO:
aja@ncsc.dni.us
Competition #32 (Added/Updated: Monday, 2/18/2008)
25th Annual Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition
Deadline: Monday, 6/9/2008
Award: 1st Place: $2,500; 2nd Place: $1,000; Up to (2) Honorable Mention Prizes: $250
Website: www.planning.org/planningandlaw/writingcompetition.htm
SPONSOR: The Planning & Law Division of the American Planning Association.
TOPIC: Entries should demonstrate original thought on a question of significance in either planning or areas of law germane to planning (e.g., land use, local government or environmental law).
ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to law students at ABA accredited law schools and planning students at schools listed in the Guide to Graduate Education in Urban and Regional Planning (13th ed.) who are enrolled in or who will complete a program of study leading to the J.D., LL.B., Masters or Ph.D. degree during the 2007-08 academic year.
REQUIREMENTS: (1) All entries must be the work of an individual, jointly-authored entries will not be considered; (2) Entries may have been written for another purpose within the last year - e.g., a paper submitted for a course or internship - but must not have been previously published.
FORMAT: (1) Entries shall not exceed forty-five {45} pages in length; (2) Entries shall be typed double-spaced with 1" margins and in a font with a minimum of 10-point pitch; (3) Manuscripts should follow the stylistic guidelines of the Chicago Manual of Style (latest edition) published by the University of Chicago Press; (4) All citations should be footnoted and should conform to A Uniform System of Citation (latest edition) published by the Harvard Law Review Association (the Blue Book).
SUBMITTAL INFORMATION: Each entry will consist of five (5) copies. Each copy must have two title pages; the first should contain the title of the entry, the name/address/e-mail of the student, and the identity of the student's school and date of graduation; the second should contain only the title of the entry.
MAIL FIVE (5) COPIES TO:
Professor Alan Weinstein
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
Cleveland State University
2121 Euclid Avenue, LB 138
Cleveland, Ohio 44115-2214
Competition #33 (Added/Updated: Monday, 2/18/2008)
American Inns of Court Warren E. Burger Prize
Deadline: Sunday, 6/15/2008
Award: 1st Place: $5,000
Website: www.innsofcourt.org
SPONSOR: American Inns of Court. Chief Justice Burger was a lifelong advocate of legal ethics and civility and a “founding father” of the American Inns of Court movement. The American Inns of Court is a national association of judges, lawyers and professors of law and their students who endeavor to maintain the highest standards of the legal profession.
TOPIC: The author should address one or more aspects of legal excellence, civility, ethics and professionalism within the legal profession. The selected issue(s) should be of contemporary significance with clear relevance to the legal community at large.
ELIGIBILITY: The American Inns of Court invites judges, lawyers, professors, students, scholars and other authors to participate in the competition by submitting an original, unpublished essay.
FORMAT: (1) Submissions must be original and unpublished works of 10,000 - 25,000 words, including footnotes; (2) Collaborative submissions are allowed; (3) Submission should be on 8 1/2 x 11 white paper, double-spaced with 1" margins; (4) Use footnotes, not endnotes; (5) The body and footnotes will be of the same font - Times New Roman, 12 point; (6) Only the first page of the paper will contain the name of the article; (7) The author's name or other identifying marks or references must not appear anywhere in the body of the paper; (8) Do NOT include page numbers; (9) Footnotes and citations should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation; (10) A submission must include a completed cover page (download from website), one original copy of the paper, and 3.5" diskette or CD containing both the cover page information and paper in Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect format; (11)A single binder clip should secure the cover page and the article.
SEND SUBMISSIONS TO:
Cindy Dennis
Awards and Scholarships Coordinator
American Inns of Court
1229 King Street, 2nd Floor
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
DIRECT QUESTIONS TO:
Cindy Dennis
(800) 233 - 3590 Ext. 104
cdennis@innsofcourt.org
Competition #25 (Added/Updated: Wednesday, 1/16/2008)
2008 Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award
Deadline: Monday, 6/30/2008
Award: 1st and 2nd Place: $2,500
Website: None
SPONSOR: The International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA). The award honors the memory of Shannon Bybee, one of the IAGA founders, who had a distinguished career as a gaming attorney, state gaming regulator, gaming industry executive and pioneering educator in casino operations and gaming law. TOPIC: Research paper intended to enhance the understanding of gaming law or the recommendation of a beneficial change in gaming law. ELIGIBILITY: (1) All submissions must be part of the student's class work at an accredited law school during the 2007-2008 school year. (2)Submission must be accompanied by written confirmation from a law school instructor that the paper was written under the direction of that instructor. FORMAT: The papers may be of any length, but it is recommended they be between 3,000 and 5,000 words, exclusive of footnoting. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION:(1) quality of presentation; (2) quality of footnoting; (3) depth of research; (4) novelty or importance of subject matter; (5) value to gaming law practitioners or gaming control officials; and, (6) value to the study of gaming law. MAIL ENTRIES TO: Bob Faiss,
Award Coordinator, Lionel Sawyer & Collins, 300 South Fourth Street, Suite 1700, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101; Or email to: rfaiss@lionelsawyer.com. QUESTIONS: Contact Bob Faiss at (702) 383-8839.
Competition #15 (Added/Updated: Thursday, 10/25/2007)
Tannenwald Writing Competition (Tax)
Deadline: Tuesday, 7/1/2008
Award: 1st Place: $3,500; 2nd Place: $2,500; 3rd Place: $1,500
Website: www.tannenwald.org
SPONSORS: The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for excellence in Tax Scholarship and The American College of Tax Counsel.
TOPIC: Submitted papers must focus primarily upon technical or policy-oriented tax issues relating to any type of existing or proposed U.S. federal or state tax or taxation system (including topics relating to tax practice and ethical and professional responsibility matters).
ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to (i) law students, undergraduate (J.D.) or graduate (L.L.M. or S.J.D.), enrolled full or part-time in a U.S. law school during the 2007-08 academic year; and (ii) other students enrolled during such academic year in a U.S. law school tax course as part of an MBA or other non-law degree program. See website for other more detailed eligibility issues.
FORMAT: (1) Papers shall be 25-50 typewritten pages in length (double-spaced), including footnotes and appendices (both of which may be singled spaced); (2) Times New Roman or Arial typeface (12 point for text and appendices; 10 point or 12 point font size may be used for footnotes); (3) All margins shall be at least 1 inch; (4) Same-page footnotes are strongly preferred instead of endnotes; (5) Proper citation forms must be used; (6) Papers should be clipped or stapled; do not hole-punch or place in a binder; (7) Co-authored papers will not be accepted; (8) You must include a cover page which includes [a] the title of the article; [b] the name, law school and class, address, phone number and email address of the submitting student; and [c] the name, address, phone number and email address of the faculty sponsor. The names of the student, faculty sponsor or their school should not otherwise appear in the paper text or footnotes of the paper.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION: (1) depth and creativity of legal and tax analysis; (2) thoroughness of legal research; (3) organization and writing style; (4) difficulty of subject matter; and (5) consideration of tax policy implications.
MAIL ENTRY REQUIRED TO:
Tannenwald Foundation
Attention: Melnie Moore
1275 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20004
ADDITIONALLY: - Your entry and the faculty sponsor communication must also be transmitted electronically in MS Word to Ms. Moore at: melnie.moore@sablaw.com
DIRECT QUESTIONS TO:
Nancy Abramowitz
(202) 274-4164
Nabramo@wcl.american.edu
Competition #19 (Added/Updated: Wednesday, 11/28/2007)
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