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 designed to encourage outstanding student scholarship at the intersection of law and medicine or law and the social sciences that promotes an understaningd, furthers the development of legal rights and protections, and improves the lives of those with disabilities. Submitted papers may be on any topic relating to disability law, including legal issues arising with respect to employment, government services and programs, public accommodations, education, higher education, housing, and health care. |
Thomas Jefferson School of Law |
1500 |
1/15/2015 |
|
The submission may address any aspect of Securities law; Securities arbitration; The Federal Arbitration Act, Title 9, U.S. Code, Section 1-14; or FINRA Code of Arbitration, effective April 16, 2007, and any changes or proposed changes to that Code. |
PIABA Foundation |
1000 |
9/19/2014 |
|
Seeking general submissions pertaining to all areas of sustainable development law and policy.? Email submissions to jsdlp.law@mcgill.ca by 18 July 2014 (for tentative December 2014 publication) and 10 January 2015 (for tentative May 2014 publication). |
The McGill International Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy (JSDLP) |
0 |
7/18/2014 |
|
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 Americal College of Tax Counsel |
5000 |
7/1/2014 |
|
An in-depth analysis of a current issue relevant to customs and international trade law. |
The Customs and International Trade Bar Association and Brooklyn Law School |
1000 |
5/23/2014 |
|
Entries must be submitted in the English language 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.? |
International Association of Defense Counsel |
2000 |
5/16/2014 |
|
Entries may address any aspect 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, but papers limited to the law of a single state will not be considered.? |
College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law |
$1,500 + publication |
5/15/2014 |
|
Authors must be either currently enrolled in a B.C.L., LL.B., J.D., LL.M., D.C.L. or Ph.D. program (or their local equivalents).? Those who are no longer in school must have taken their most recent degree within the last three yeaers, or have been admitted to the bar (or the local equivalent) for no more than three years (whichever is later).? The essay (1) must relate to commercial or investment arbitration, (2) must be unpublished (not yet submitted for publication) as of May 15, (3) must be a maximum of 15,000 words (including footnotes), (4) can be written in English or in French, and (5) must be in MS Word format. ? |
McGill University |
4000 |
5/15/2014 |
|
Papers on any issue concerning Native American law. |
The Sovereignty Symposium |
1500 |
5/1/2014 |
|
The competition is open to student enrolled in a J.D. or LL.M. program (day or evening).? The subject matter must be directed to one of the traditional subject areas of intellectual property, i.e. patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair trade practices and antitrust. |
The New York Intellectual Property Law Association |
1500 |
3/7/2014 |
|
The subject matter of the paper may be on any area of the law relating to Native Americans or other indigenous peoples. |
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma and the Sovereignty Symposium, Inc. |
$750 and publication |
3/31/2014 |
|
The contest encourages original and innovative research and writing in the area of legal malpractice law, professional liability insurance and loss prevention. Winner will receive expense-paid trip to Spring 2014 National Legal Malpractice Conference in?Boston, MA, April 30 - May 2, 2014. |
ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers? Professional Liability |
5000 |
2/21/2014 |
|
The Competition seeks submissions of student-written academic papers focused on the topic of international humanitarian law and its intersection with emerging technologies (i.e., cyber warfare, nanotechnologies, autonomous systems, drones, etc.) |
American Society of International Law, Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian law, Washington College of Law |
One-Year ASIL Student Membership & Presentation of Paper |
2/16/2014 |
|
Open to J.D. and LL.M. students currently enrolled in a U.S. law school.? Students must submit an original essay on a topic of his/her choice which addresses some aspect of the law of capital markets, including securities, commodities, futures, options, derivatives and related issues. ? |
The John Marshall Law School Center for International Law |
$3,000 + publication |
2/14/2014 |
|
J.D. Students - You love the law, but your friends think it's boring.? Show them that legal topics can be interesting and even entertaining, while still providing substantive legal insights.? To participate, submit a 1,000- to 2,500-word blog-style article on the use of expert witnesses in litigation.? To win, your article not only has to be logically rigorous and substantive, it also needs to be engaging, entertaining and eye-catching.? Ideally, lay people should be able to understand and enjoy the article, while lawyers should find it useful and insightful. |
The Expert Institute |
$500 + blog publication |
12/31/2014 |
|
Awards to be presented for (a) the best book, (b) the best publishable article, book chapter, or substantial book review, (c) the best student note or comment, on a topic dealing with consumer financial services law. Eligible entries will address a topic on consumer financial services, but not securities regulation, insurance or the safety-and-soundness aspects of banking regulation. Works on subjects within these (or other) areas, however, will be considered, if they bear directly on consumer financial services. Awards include cash payments, a Certificate of Recognition from the College, and travel expenses to attend the Spring 2015 meeting of the College. In any given year, depending on submissions, all three awards, or fewer, may be made. |
American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers |
2500 |
12/1/2014 |
|
The topic for this year's contest is: "As states contemplate the legalization of prohibited products, like marijuana, what are some lessons policymakers and regulators can learn from the movement to end alcohol prohibition in the 1930s?" |
Center for Alcohol Policy |
5000 |
11/17/2014 |
|
This contest is open to J.D. students currently enrolled.? LL.M. students are not eligible. Authors must research and identify a compelling legal issue confronting the music industry and propose a solution. All Winners receive a free trip to the GRAMMY Awards show. |
The GRAMMY Foundation and the ABA Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries |
1st: $5,000 + publication |
1/4/2014 |
|
Law students currently enrolled or graduating can write eligible articles of general interest to the antitrust law community, including: Civil and Criminal Antitrust Law, Competition Policy, Consumer Protection, and International CompetitionLaw. Winner will receive an invitation to the Antitrust Section's Spring Meeeting (March26-28, 2014) in Washington, DC, with expenses paid by ABA. |
ABA Antitrust Law Section |
2000 |
1/31/2014 |
|
Papers will be accepted on any issue concrning American Indian law or indigenous peoples.? However, topics recently published in the American Indian Law Review will not be favored. |
American Indian Law Review |
1st: $1,000 and publication |
1/31/2014 |
|
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 2013 semester.? Only the first two submissions per law school will be accepted as entries for consideration. |
Jackson Lewis Law Firm and IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law Institute for Law and the Workplace |
$3,000 + publication |
1/21/2014 |
|
The Affordable?Care Act (ACA) enacted into law in 2010 attempts to improve the access of Americans to improved quality health care, while controlling the nation's escalating health care expenditures.? As the ACA?gets further implemented in 2014, discuss opportunities and challenges this law presents for constructive, innovative collaboration between the legal and medical professions in contributing to the quest for a more affordable and accessible high quality health care system. |
Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law |
$250 - Law Student |
1/2/2014 |
|
Entry topics should focus on a cutting-edge legal issue affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender communities. |
Charles R. Williams Project on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law. |
1st: $1000 |
1/17/2014 |
|
Submissions to the James E. Beckley Securities Arbitration and Law Writing Competition 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 16, 2007 and any changes or proposed changes to that Code.? |
Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association |
1st: $1,000 |
9/20/2013 |
|
The candidate must be a Ph.D. student or starting researcher.? The article may be written in Dutch, English, German, or French on a subject which falls within the material scope encompassed by the objectives of the Ius Commune Research School.? |
Ius Commune Research School |
1250 |
9/1/2013 |
|
Competition Name | Topic | Sponsor | Prize | Due Date |
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