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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The competition is open to all students enrolled in an accredited law school. The topic must either be about one of two prompts, the first relating to companion animals as personal property, and the second relating to pet custody. There is an 8 page minimum. |
The American Kennel Club |
2500 |
3/30/2018 |
|
Papers must be writen by current law students after March 1, 2017. The topic is anything regarding bankruptcy jurisdiction, bankruptcy litigation, or evidence in bankruptcy proceedings, as well as business or consumer cases about bankruptcy sales, plan confirmation, and litigation in bankruptcy courts. |
American Bankruptcy Institute |
$2,000 + publicatoin |
3/1/2018 |
|
The competition is open to all lawyers and law students.? Coauthored submissions are eligible.? Submissions must be original academic works that are either unpublished or published no more than one year prior to the competition deadline (specifically, not before January 2017).? Submissions should be related to American regulatory or administrative law, broadly construed.? Appropriate subjects include empirical or comparative analyses of the effectiveness of specific regulatory regimes or deregulation; doctrinal investigations of the development of administrative law principles by courts and administrative agencies and the effects of that development; and normative analyses of how particular regulatory or administrative regimes or deregulation advance or fail to advance values of fairness, participation, and transparency. |
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy |
1500 |
2/4/2018 |
|
The competition is open to all lawyers and law students.? Coauthored submissions are eligible and, if selected, the coauthors will share the prize.? Submissions should be related to American regulatory or administrative law, broadly construed.? Appropriate subjects include empirical or comparative analyses of the effectiveness of specific regulatory regimes or deregulation; doctrinal investigations of the development of administrative law rules or principles by courts and administrative agencies and the effects of that development; and normative analyses of how particular regulatory or administrative regimes or deregulation advance or fail to advance values of fairness, participation, and transparency. |
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy |
1500 |
2/4/2018 |
|
Open to all students who are candidates for the J.D. or LL.M. degree at an accredited law school during the year in which the article is submitted.? |
New York State Bar Association Business Law Section |
2000 |
2/15/2018 |
|
Any full-time or part-time law student enrolled in a J.D., LL.M. or S.J.D. program at a United States law school is eligible to participate.? The American Constitution Society welcomes all papers furthering and promoting a progressive vision of the Constitution, law and public policy.? Entrants are encouraged to view this topic broadly.? Examples of possible topics include:? access to the courts, civil liberties, consumer rights, disability rights, freedom of speech, GLBT rights, human rights, immigration, labor law, money in judicial elections, voting and the political process, privacy, protection of health, safety, the environment, racial equality, religion, second amendment and guns, separation of powers and federalism, and women's reperoductive rights and reproductive freedom. ? |
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy |
3000 |
2/11/2018 |
|
The subject of entries may be within any area of family law, although topics that focus on international or interdisciplinary subjects of family law are especially encouraged. Articles should concentrate on a current legal issue and must have a strong foundation in legal research. Use of interdisciplinary sources may also be appropriate for many topics. Entries will be judged on the quality of legal analysis, originality, depth of research, timeliness, creativity and format. The Family Court Review?s editors and a subcommittee of editorial board members will evaluate all articles. |
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts |
$500 + Consideration for publication |
2/1/2018 |
|
Stduents must be enrolled in law school and the paper should be about an area of entertainment law. |
The Recording Academy |
$10,000 scholarship + trip to GRAMMY Week Event |
1/2/2018 |
|
The competition is open to all students who have completed or are currently taking courses in employment or labor law.? Authors must have completed or be currently taking course work in employment or labor law and must be enrolled in an accredited law school during the Fall 2017 semester.? Judges will consider papers on any topic relating to the law governing the workplace, such as employment law, labor law, employee benefits, or employment discrimination.? Entries must be the student author's own work and must not be submitted for publication elsewhere.? NOTE:??Only the first two submissions per law school will be accepted as entries for consideration.? |
IIT Chicago-Kent School of Law |
3000 |
1/17/2018 |
|
All students currently enrolled in accredited law schools in the United States and those recently graduated (2017).? The scope of permissible topics is broad, i.e., any aspect of workers' compensation law.? Students are encouraged to present:?
Articles must be original from the applicant.? The winner's article will also be considered for publication. |
College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers |
2000 |
1/15/2018 |
|
Open to any law school student in good standing, over the age of 21, who is currently attending an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions, who is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States. The goal is to encourage and reward law student writings on antitrust law and competition law subjects of general and current interest.? The competition invites editors of law school publications to submit published articles on a current topic dealing with antitrust law and consumer protection law.? The competition is designed to attract students to the antitrust law and consumer protection law field and to strongly encourage scholarship in these areas. |
American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law |
2500 |
01/31/2018 |
|
The submission may address any aspect of securities law, securities arbitration, The Federal Arbitration Act, Title 9, US Code, Section 1-14, or FINRA Code of Arbitration, effective April 19, 2007, and any changes or proposed changes to that Code.? The writing can be based in theory or practice, but should ultimately advocate a position on the topic area chosen. The competition is open to all students who attend a law school in the United States. ?Full-time students who are not law students but who write law-related papers as part of a couse at an American law school are also eligible. |
The PIABA Foundation |
$1,000 + publication |
9/8/2017 |
|
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 website.? No entry fee is required.? Applicants may submit an unlimited number of entries each month.? The top two to four articles will be published on the NLR website. ? |
National Law Review |
Publication on the NLR website. |
9/30/2017 |
|
The Bruce M. Stargatt Legal Ethics Writing Competition invites scholarly papers concerning ethical issues in the practice of law. |
Delaware Bar Foundation |
$3,000 + publication |
9/15/2017 |
|
The Competition is open to (i) law students, undergraduate (J.D.) or graduate (LL.M. or S.J.D.) enrolled full- or part-time in a U.S. law school during the 2016-17 academic year; and (ii) other students enrolled during such academic year in a U.S. law school tax course as part of an M.B.A. or other non-law degree program.? 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). Each submitted paper must be sponsored by a law school professor. |
The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship and The American College of Tax Counsel |
5000 |
7/5/2017 |
|
Contestants should address the following questions: 1.? How has the emergence of various technologies impacted the "reasonableness" of privacy expectations?? Has social media, information technology, and surveillance technology available to the public reduced what one may honestly believe is "private"? 2.? Those answering "no" should prepare an argument supporting this position.? In addition, contestants should anticipate and address foreseeable counter-arguments and attempt to persuasively argue against them. 3.? Those answering "yes" should explain why.? Likewise, these contestants should also anticipate the arguments that may be raised by the other side and attempt to argue persuasively against them. 4.? All contestants should address the "reasonableness" standard and argue whether the advent of new technologies demands a new Fourth Amendment standard to protect citizens from police monitoring.? If so, what should the standard be?? Why? |
American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section |
2500 |
7/1/2017 |
|
Law students are encouraged to submit an article on an IP topic, written on or before June 30, 2017.? Judges will consider the merit of the article as a contribution to the knowledge respecting intellectual property and the extent to which it displays original and creative thought or information not previously written or published by the author prior to July 1, 2016. To be eligible for consideration, 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. |
American Intellectual Property Law Association |
2000 |
6/30/2017 |
|
Competition is open to articles written while the author is a stueent at an accredited law school in the U.S.? Authors may not hae graduated from law school prior to 12/1/16.? LLM students are not eligible.? 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 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.? Papers limited to the law of a single state will not be considered. |
ABA Section on Labor and Employment Law |
3000 |
6/15/2017 |
|
Students must be enrolled at an accredited law school. The topic should be on labor and employment law in the United States or abroad and impacting the United States, and also regarding a public policy issue, practical appllicationsof a doctrine, statute or need for modification, or a common law doctrine. |
The College of Labor and Employment |
3000 |
6/15/2017 |
|
The author must be in law school or graduate school, and it cannot be published elsewhere. The paper must address any area of education, especially elementary and secondary public education. |
Education Law Association |
Publication |
6/1/2017 |
|
Entries must be the original work of a single author, not previously published, and they must cover the fields of tort law, insurance law, civil procedure, evidence, or other areas of practical concern to lawyers engaged in the defense or management of the defense of civil litigation. While entrants are free to take positions on issues, their articles should be expository in nature. |
International Association of Defense Counsel |
$2,000 + plaque |
5/19/2017 |
|
Papers are invited on current issues regarding bankruptcy jurisdiction, bankruptcy litigation, or evidence in bankruptcy cases or proceedings.? Papers may address business or consumer cases and may include matters such as bankruptcy sales, plan confirmation and other topics that involve jurisdiction, litigation or evidence in the bankruptcy courts. |
Jenner & Block, Thompson & Knight and Saul Ewing, LLP |
$2,000 + publication |
3/1/2017 |
|
Judges will consider papers on any topic relating to the law governing the workplace, such as employment law, labor law, employee benefits, or employment discrimination.? Entries must be the law student author's own work and must not be submitted for publication elsewhere.? Authors must have completed or be currently taking course work in employment or labor law and must be enrolled in an accredited law school during the Fall 2016 semester.? Only the first two submissions per law school will be accepted as entries for consideration. |
IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, the Institute for Law and the Workplace |
3000 |
2/28/2017 |
|
The co-sponsoring organizations seek student scholarship exploring reproductive rights and justice issues in the United States.? They encourage writing that amplifies lesser-heard voices, suggests innovative solutions, and takes into account the realities and the lived experiences of the people most affected by reproductive oppression.? Students are encouraged to think expansively about reproductive rights and justice and to analyze issues using an intersectional lens - considering the impact of demographic and institutional factors such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and immigration status. |
If/When?how, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at U.C. Berkeley School of Law |
$750 + publication |
2/27/2017 |
|
Any full-time or part-time law student currently enrolled in a J.D., LL.M. or S.J.D. program at a United States law school is eligible to participate.? All entrants must be a student member of the national American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and may join online at www.ACSLaw.org/join. The American Constitution Society welcomes all papers furthering and promoting a progressive vision of the Constitution, law, and public policy.? Entrants are encouraged to view this topic broadly.? Examples of possible topics include:? access to the courts, civil liberties, consumer rights, disability rights, freedom of speech, GLBT?rights, human rights, immigration, labor law, money in judicial elections, voting and the political process, privacy, protection of health, safety, the environment, racial equality, religion, second amendment and guns, separation of powers and federalism, and women's reproductive rights and reproductive freedom.? |
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy |
$3,000 + possible publication |
2/11/2017 |
|
| Competition Name | Topic | Sponsor | Prize | Due Date |
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