Previous Writing Competitions
This list of Previous Writing Competitions may be helpful as you make long-range plans. Often, sponsors repeat their contests, and the deadline may fall at the same approximate time of year. If you are interested in a Writing Competition on this list, please verify the topic, prize, and due date with the sponsor. For a list of current Writing Competitions with upcoming deadlines, please click “Currently Active Writing Competitions.”
| Competition Name | Topic | Sponsor | Prize | Due Date |
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Third-Annual Criminal Record Policy Essay Competition | For our third annual law student writing competition, our goal is to continue to increase awareness of the impact of laws governing the retention and dissemination of criminal records by courts and state agencies, as well as the laws governing the public’s use of such records. 2019-2020 Essay Topics: How to improve the expungement process in (state of your choice) When, if ever, should government stop reporting criminal records to the public? What effects do criminal records have on former offenders ability to re-assimilate? |
Higbee & Associates and The Foundation for Continuing Justice |
The Prizes For The Winning Essays Are As Follows: |
09/30/2020 |
2020 Aviation and Space Law Committee Law Student Writing Competition | Submissions should address a recent development in any area of aviation or space law or |
Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association |
(1) $500 cash prize; (2) up to $1,500 reimbursement for hotel and transportation expenses to attend and speak at the ABA TIPS Aviation and Space Law Annual CLE Seminar in Washington, DC on October 28th and 29th, 2020, and (3) publication in an upcoming edition of the TIPS Aviation and Space Law Committee’s newsletter. |
09/09/2020 |
2020 Warren E. Burger Prize | The American Inns of Court invites judges, lawyers, professors, students, scholars, and other authors to participate in the competition. Please submit an original, unpublished, essay of 10,000 to 20,000 words on a topic of your choice addressing issues of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence. |
American Inns of Court Foundation |
Cash prize of $5,000, and the essay will be published in the South Carolina Law Review. |
07/01/2020 |
Christopher E. Bergin Award for Excellence in Writing | The Christopher E. Bergin Award for Excellence in Writing recognizes superior student writing on unsettled questions in tax law or policy. It is named in honor of the late Christopher E. Bergin, former president and publisher of Tax Analysts and longtime editor of Tax Notes Federal. The award, given annually, epitomizes the qualities that Chris championed. Submissions should focus on an unsettled question in federal, state, or international tax law or policy. |
Tax Notes Federal |
Winning entries are published in Tax Notes’ weekly magazines and will be eligible to receive a 12-month subscription to Tax Notes’ daily and weekly products. Winners’ names and schools will be prominently featured on the Tax Notes website. |
06/30/2020 |
Smith-Doheny Legal Ethics Writing Competition | Any current student at an American or Canadian law school may submit an essay (minimum of ten pages and maximum of fifty pages) on any legal ethics topic. The essays that are submitted to the competition will be judged on their clarity, coherence, creativity, insight, and mastery of rules and cases relevant to the topic of the essay in question. |
Notre Dame Law School |
$2,500 prize |
04/24/2020 |
National Law Review 2019-2020 Law Student Writing Competition | The National Law Review (NLR) consolidates practice-oriented legal analysis from a variety of sources for easy access by lawyers, paralegals, law students, business executives, insurance professionals, accountants, compliance officers, human resource managers, and other professionals who wish to better understand specific legal issues relevant to their work. The NLR Law Student Writing Competition offers law students the opportunity to submit articles for publication consideration on the NLR Web site. |
National Law Review |
Winning submissions will be published according to specified dates. |
03/31/2020 |
22nd Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition | The ELI Writing Competition challenges students to identify, research, and write an essay with a proposed solution on a compelling legal issue confronting the music industry. A nationwide panel of music law experts will judge the papers in a blind process to select a winner and two runners-up. This contest is open to Juris Doctorate (JD) and master of laws (LLM) candidates currently enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school. |
Recording Academy & ABA Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries |
Top Prize: |
01/02/2020 |
Companion Animal Law Writing Contest | This year’s contest focuses on two questions, the first one is state legislature’s animal control and enforcement laws’ bond-for-care provisions, and the second one is on fraudulent claims of emotional support and service animals. Open to all students enrolled at ABA-accredited law schools in the US. |
American Kennel Club |
First Prize: $2,500 |
11/30/2019 |
Any current issue involving labor or employment law. The scope of permissible topics for the article is broad. All law school students. |
DR. EMANUEL STEIN AND KENNETH STEIN MEMORIAL LAW STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION |
First Prize $3,000 |
10/01/2019 |
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The Competition is open to all law students in good standing and attending an ABA accredited law school in 2018. The Competition is open to all law students in good standing and attending an ABA accredited law school in 2018.
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ABA Writing Competition |
$2,000 |
07/09/2019 |
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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 U.S. federal or state taxation system (including topics relating to tax practice ethical and professional responsibility matters). |
The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship and The American College of Tax Counsel |
Winning paper $5,000 |
07/08/2019 |
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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 U.S. federal or state taxation system (including topics relating to tax practice ethical and professional responsibility matters). The Competition is open to 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 2018/19 academic year |
The Theodore Tannenwald Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship |
Winning paper $5,000 |
07/08/2019 |
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Want to write an AMICI CURIAE for Submission to the US SUPREME COURT? The winner WILL BE SUBMITTED to the US SUPREME COURT for review. AT THE NEW YORK MARRIOTT TIMES SQUARE. With Special Guests: STEPHEN B. KAUFMAN American University HONORABLE J. BARONE Harvard Law
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St. John's University School of Law Prof. Angelique Pescque, Esq. |
N/A |
07/08/2019 |
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The American Inns of Court invites judges, lawyers, professors, students, scholars, and other authors to participate in the competition. please submit an original, unpublished, essay of 10,000 to 20,000 words on a topic of your choice addressing issues of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence. |
The 2019 Warren E. Burger Prize |
$5,000 |
07/01/2019 |
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A scholarly writing competition that honors an outstanding article or book on a topic exploring the tension between civil liberties and national security in contemporary American Society. The article or book must be in draft form or have been published within one year prior to the July 1 deadline. As a condition of accepting the award, the winner will present his or her work at Chicago-Kent. All reasonable expenses will be paid. |
2019 Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer |
$10,000 |
07/01/2019 |
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The contest is open to students who, on the date the entry is submitted, attend and are in good standing at an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions. Membership in the Criminal Justice Section is not a requirement. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age and legal permanent residents or citizens of the United States. Employees, officers, directors of the ABA and members of their immediate families are not eligible, Topic: The Use of Drones by Law Enforcement - How should drones enhance public safety, how should drones be regulated, and what role does the Fourth Amendment Play? |
William W. Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition |
$2,500 |
07/01/2019 |
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The Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition was established by AEF in 2005 to honor the late Congressman Robert T. Matsui and his many accomplishments. Through this Writing Competition, AEF seeks to encourage legal scholarship on issues of importance to the Asian Pacific American community. The Competition is open to all law students and anyone who graduated from law school within the last five years. |
Matsui Writing Competition |
$6,000, plus, the winning entry will be published by the UCLA Asian Pacific American Law Journal (APALJ) |
07/01/2019 |
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Papers should address a current topic of general interest in a legal area covered by the Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section. The section covers specific industries that provide certain important, in some cases, essential, services to the general public. This competition is open to law school students who, at the time of entry, (1) are in good standing during the academic year of the Competition, (2) currently attending an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions, (3) are U.S. citizens or legal permanent resident and (4) are at least 21 years old. |
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGULATED INDUSTRIES SECTION K. William Kolbe Law Student Writing Competition |
$2,500, a free membership in the section for one (1) year after admission to the bar, and coach-seat airfare and standard hotel accommodations to attend the Section's Fall 2019 Council Group Meeting. |
06/30/2019 |
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Students are encouraged to submit articles on a subject relating to the protection of intellectual property. The article must have been written solely by a student or students either in full-time attendance at a law school (day or evening) or prepared in connection with a law school course. The article must be submitted to the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Submit paper: American intellectual Property Law Association, Watson Award Competition, watsonaward@aipla.org |
Robert C. Watson Award |
The winner will receive reasonable expense reimbursement to attend the AIPLA Annual Meeting, October 24 – 26, 2019 in Washington DC, to receive their award. |
06/28/2019 |
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This competition is open to any law student in good standing (full-time or part-time) who is currently enrolled at the time of submission or was a student within the past 90-day period prior to submission as a J.D. or LL.M. candidate in an ABA-accredited law school within the United States or its possessions. The paper must relate to the area of trusts and estates, broadly defined. Any one or more of the following topics are appropriate for discussion:
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Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition |
1st Prize |
06/17/2019 |
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Entries should address aspects of public or private sector labor and/or employment law relevant to the American labor and employment bar. Students are encouraged to discuss novel issues, innovative ideas, or fresh perspectives on the following areas affecting labor and employment in the U.S. and/or abroad that would be noteworthy to the U.S.: a public policy issue; practical implications of a leading case or doctrine; a statute or the need for statutory modification; or a common law doctrine. Articles may address U.S. law, international law of relevance to U.S. labor and employment attorneys, or how a legal topic is treated in states across the country. This competition is open to articles written while the author is an active student at an accredited law school in the United States. Authors may not have graduated from law school prior to December 1, 2018. Graduate students in law school (LL.M candidates) are not eligible.
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The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law Annual Law Student Writing Competition for 2018-2019 |
First Place: $3000 The firstplace winning article may be selected for publication in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law. |
06/15/2019 |
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Entries should address aspects of public or private sector labor and/or employment law relevant to the American labor and employment bar. Students are encouraged to discuss novel issues, innovative ideas, or fresh perspectives on the following areas affecting labor and employment in the U.S. and/or abroad that would be noteworthy to the U.S.: a public policy issue; practical implications of a leading case or doctrine; a statute or the need for statutory modification; or a common law doctrine. Articles may address U.S. law, international law of relevance to U.S. labor and employment attorneys, or how a legal topic is treated in states across the country. This competition is open to articles written while the author is an active student at an accredited law school in the United States. Authors may not have graduated from law school prior to December 1, 2018. Graduate students in law school (LL.M candidates) are not eligible.
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The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law Annual Law Student Writing Competition for 2018-2019 |
First Place: $3000 The firstplace winning article may be selected for publication in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law. |
06/15/2019 |
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Papers should provide an in depth analysis of a current legal or regulatory issue concerning FDA regulated industries: food, drugs, animal drugs, biologics, cosmetics, diagnostics, dietary supplements, medical devices or tobacco. Students currently enrolled in a JD Program at any of the nation’s ABA-accredited law schools or a 2018-2019 academic year graduate are eligible to participate. |
2019 Austern Writing Competition |
$750 for first place |
06/10/2019 |
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The Award honors excellence in legal writing in American law schools. Any law student currently enrolled in an accredited law school in the United States seeking a J.D. or LL.B degree is eligible to submit a paper for the Award. In order to be considered, two copies of a current legal writing must be submitted to the Foundation c/o Kenneth G. Engerrand, Brown Sims, P.C., Tenth Floor, 1177 West Loop South, Houston, Texas 77027-9007. The article must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a law school faculty member or legal professional other than the author of the paper. Only one paper may be submitted on behalf of any student, and only one paper may be sponsored by any faculty member or legal professional. |
Judge John R. Brown Award |
$10,000 First Place, |
06/03/2019 |
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The goal of the Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Lawstudent writing contest is to encourage and reward law student writing on the subjects of real property or trust and estate law. It is designed to attract students to these law specialties, and to encourage scholarship and interest in these areas. Articles submitted for judging are encouraged to be of timely topics and have not been previously published. This contest is open to all J.D. and LL.M students currently attending an ABA-accredited law school |
Law Student Writing Competition ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law |
1st. Place: $2,500 award, A full-tuition scholarship to the University of Miami School of Law's Heckerling Graduate Program in Estate Planning OR Robert Traurig-Greenberg Traurig Graduate Program in Real Property Development for the 2019–2020 or 2020-2021 academic year. |
05/31/2019 |
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| Competition Name | Topic | Sponsor | Prize | Due Date |
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