Competitions listed here are in order by submission deadline. Click the links below for more specific details about each competition.
Sponsor: The College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2024
Topic: The scope of permissible topics include any aspect of workers' compensation law.
Sponsor: Chicago-Kent College of Law's Institute for Law
Submission Deadline: January 17, 2024
Topic: 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.
Sponsor: Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF)
Submission Deadline: January 19, 2024
Topic: Through this Writing Competition, AEF seeks to encourage legal scholarship on issues of importance to the Asian Pacific American community.
Sponsor: Ohio Bar
Submission Deadline: January 26, 2024
Topic: This annual law student scholarship program focuses on recognizing outstanding writing on a litigation-related topic. The program is intended to encourage students to pursue a career in litigation and to become active in the Ohio Bar.
Sponsor: The Beverly Hills Bar Association and Bar Foundation
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2024
Topic: his competition encourages law students to integrate Rule of Law concepts into their writings.
Sponsor: ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability and Long & Levit, LLP
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2024
Topic: This essay contest is to encourage scholarship and innovative research and writing in the area of legal malpractice law, professional liability insurance, and loss prevention.
Sponsor: Scribes — The American Society of Legal Writers
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2024
Topic: The topic should be timely and interesting.
Sponsor: Center for Alcohol Policy
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2024
Topic: This national academic event is intended to foster debate, analysis, and examination of state alcohol regulation in the 21st Century.
Sponsor: American Constitution Society (ACS)
Submission Deadline: February 5, 2024
Topic: Submissions should be focused on 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.
Sponsor: American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section
Submission Deadline: February 9, 2024
Topic: The competition encourages and rewards law students for their outstanding writing on business law topics.
Sponsor: American Bar Association- Antitrust Law Section
Submission Deadline: February 10, 2024
Topic: This project provides an opportunity to expand the role of the ABA in the area of Consumer Protection among law students, professors and practitioners by inviting students to participate in a discussion on hot topics in consumer protection.
Sponsor: American Bar Association
Submission Deadline: February 23, 2024
Topic: The goal of the Competition is to encourage and reward law student writings on antitrust law and competition law subjects of general and current interest.
Sponsor: New York Intellectual Property Law Association
Submission Deadline: February 25, 2024
Topic: The Honorable William Conner Writing Competition was established to recognize exceptionally written papers that are submitted by law students.
Sponsor: American Indian Law Review (AILR)
Submission Deadline: February 29, 2024
Topic: Papers will be accepted on any legal issue specifically concerning American Indians or other indigenous peoples.
Sponsor: The Blanch Law Firm
Submission: March 1, 2024
Topic: The goal of the competition is to find an excellent writer to contribute an outstanding article to their online publication.
Sponsor: NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund
Submission Deadline: March 1, 2024
Topic: Research and write a scholarly article suitable for publication on one of two cutting edge Second Amendment issues - or you can write separately on both questions for two chances to win.
Sponsor: The Center for Legal and Court Technology
Submission Deadline: March 1, 2024
Topic: Focus on at least one application of these technologies (e.g., Internet of Medical Things devices, facial recognition technology, autonomous systems, social media monitoring, etc.);
Explain whether regulation of the application is needed and to what extent; and
Propose means to regulate this application (proposals may range from traditional regulation to reliance on soft governance, and anything in between).
Sponsor: Notre Dame
Submission Deadline: March 1, 2024
Topic: Any topic related to the intersection of church, state & society, and in particular how the law structures and governs that intersection.
Sponsor: Health Law Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and the Health Care Compliance Association
Submission Deadline: March 13, 2024
Topic: Students must analyze the facts presented in the Competition Problem, identify any and all regulatory/compliance concerns, and advise the recipient of the memorandum.
Sponsor: The Freedom From Religion Foundation
Submission Deadline: March 15, 2024
Topic: If you could create a 28th Amendment what would it be?
Sponsor: American Bar Foundation
Submission Deadline: March 15, 2024
Topic: Papers must be on topics within the field of law and social science.
Sponsor: Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems and the University of Iowa College of Law
Submission Deadline: March 17, 2024
Topic: Any contemporary international business or economic concern.
Sponsor: International Insolvency Institute (III)
Submission Deadline: March 31, 2024
Topic: The article or research must be on an international or comparative insolvency topic.
Sponsor: Berkeley Technology Law Journal University of California
Submission Deadline: April 2, 2024
Topic: Submission will be accepted on a wide variety of topics at the intersection of law and technology, including but not limited to: technology and the public interest, privacy, internet law, intellectual property, antitrust, First Amendment issues, entertainment and news media, telecommunications, biotechnology, and cybercrime.
Sponsor: Law Student Division of the American Bar Association
Submission Deadline: April 5, 2024
Topic: Original essays on any aspect of family law.
Sponsor: Notre Dame
Submission Deadline: March 1, 2024
Topic: Any topic related to the intersection of church, state & society, and in particular how the law structures and governs that intersection.
Sponsor: Notre Dame Law School
Submission Deadline: April 15, 2024
Topic: Entries should concern any issue within the general category of legal ethics.
Sponsor: Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor & Vega LLC Injury Lawyers
Submission Deadline: April 29, 2024
Topic: Submit a creative thoughtful, and well-written response regarding the pros and cons of undocumented employees being entitled to workers’ compensation benefits despite their immigration status.
Sponsor: Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association
Submission Deadline: April 30, 2024
Topic: Submit a 20-page paper addressing a recent development in admiralty and maritime law.
Sponsor: American University Washington College of Law
Submission Deadline: May 5, 2024
Topic: This competition is designed to encourage law students to write scholarly papers on current topics of interest relevant to health law and/or food and drug law.
Sponsor: Epstein, Becker, & Green
Submission Deadline: May 17, 2024
Topic: The competition is designed to encourage JD and LLM students in the preparation of scholarly papers on current topics of interest relating to health law.
Sponsor: NYSBA
Submission Deadline: May 30, 2024
Topic: Eligible papers may address any topic of general interest to the to antitrust law community, including topics relating to civil and criminal antitrust law, competition policy, consumer protection and international competition law.
Sponsor: American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2024
Topic: Entries for the Competition should demonstrate original thought on a question of legal and/or policy significance relating to one of the following topics: (1) Air, Water, and Food, (2) Biodiversity, (3) Energy Law, (4) Indigenous Law, (5) Recycling.
Sponsor: American Bar Association (ABA) Environment, Energy, and Resources Section
Deadline Submission: May 31, 2024
Topic: Entries should relate to one of the following topics: (1) Air, Water, and Food, (2) Biodiversity, (3) Energy Law, (4) Indigenous Law, (5) Recycling.
Sponsor: Brown Sims
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2024
Topic: There is no restriction on the topic except that the writing must be on a legal subject.
Sponsor: American Bar Association (ABA) Real Property, Trust & Estate (RPTE) Section
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2024
Topic: Law Student Writing Competition
The goal of the Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law student writing contest is to encourage and reward law student writing on the subjects of real property or trust and estate law.
Sponsor: American Bar Association (ABA) Environment, Energy, and Resources Section
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2024
Topic: Entries for the Competition should demonstrate original thought on a question of legal and/or policy significance relating to one of the following topics: (1) Air, Water, and Food, (2) Biodiversity, (3) Energy Law, (4) Indigenous Law, (5) Recycling.
Sponsor: Everytown Law
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2024
Topic: This competition asks law students to consider how to advance gun violence prevention and gun safety through litigation in the civil and criminal justice systems. Though we encourage applicants to be creative, submission topics can range from reducing gun violence through representing survivors to emerging topics in Second Amendment jurisprudence.
Sponsor: Brown Sims
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2024
Topic: open
Sponsor: The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, Inc.
Submission Deadline: June 1, 2024
Topic: Papers may be on any legal topic in the employee benefits field and may be up to 40 pages (including footnotes)
Sponsor: Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF)
Submission Deadline: June 1, 2024
Topic: More and more conservative public officials, candidates and preachers are insisting that the United States is a “Christian nation,” that certain Christian views are privileged and that our laws must reflect their doctrines. Which statements and legislative actions concern you the most or present the greatest threats to our secular democracy? How dangerous is Christian nationalism and how does it adversely affect you and the country? Use examples. Be sure to define Christian nationalism and explain why you oppose it.
Sponsor: California Supreme Court Historical Society
Submission Deadline: June 1, 2024
Topic: We encourage all those working on California legal history (NOT just the history of California courts) to apply. Papers may include elements of digital humanities and may also be co-authored.
Sponsor: Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy
Submission Deadline: June 3, 2024
Topic: Entries should explore ways in which emerging technologies and services interact with or challenge existing civil rights and consumer protection laws.
Sponsor: Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI)
Submission Deadline: June 3, 2024
Topic: This Writing Competition is intended to encourage law students interested in the areas of law affecting FDA-regulated industries: food, drugs, medical devices, biologics, dietary supplements, cosmetics, veterinary, cannabis, or tobacco and nicotine products.
Sponsor: ABA Dispute Resolution Section
Submission Deadline: June 7, 2024
Topic: The essay may address any aspect of dispute resolution practice, theory, or research that the contestant chooses
Sponsor: ABA Labor and Employment Law Section
Submission Deadline: June 15, 2024
Topic: Current and relevant topics of labor and employment law.
Sponsor: ABA Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice Section
Submission Deadline: June 30, 2024
Topic: The entry must discuss any topic relating to administrative law.
Sponsor: The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) Foundation
Submission Deadline: June 30, 2024
Topic: The ACTEC Foundation is proud to support this annual legal writing competition to encourage law students to create scholarly works in the area of trusts and estates.
Sponsor: American Inns of Court
Submission Deadline: July 2, 2024
Topic: 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.
Sponsor: ABA Criminal Justice Section
Submission Deadline: July 1, 2024
Topic: Submissions should address the following: How does the use of AI-generated information implicate constitutional safeguards on the reasonableness of searches and seizures?
Sponsor: The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax and The American College of Tax Counsel
Submission Deadline: July 10, 2024
Topic: Papers on any federal or state tax-related topic may be submitted.
Sponsor:Philadelphia Bar Association
Submission Deadline: August 2, 2024
Topic: Candidates may submit a law review quality submission on any topic relating to rights, privileges, and responsibilities under federal law.
Sponsor: New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Business Law Section
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2024
Topic: Articles should demonstrate relevance to the Journal’s audience (New York business lawyers) and be timely.
Sponsor: The Criminal Law Section of the California Lawyers Association
Submission Deadline: April 30, 2023
Topic: The paper must pertain to criminal law and/or to criminal procedure, with a particular focus on contemporary issues of concern in the State of California.This is a nationwide competition; while the focus is on California law, past winners have included students attending schools from coast to coast.
Sponsor: American University
Submission Deadline: May 7, 2023
Topic:This competition is designed to encourage law students to write scholarly papers on current topics of interest relevant to health law and/or food and drug law.
Sponsor: ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2023
Topic: Submissions must be on a current topic dealing with real property, trust, and estate law.
Sponsor: ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER)
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2023
Topic: SEER sponsors up to eight law student writing competitions each year. Topics vary.
Sponsor: Brown Sims
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2023
Topic: The Award honors excellence in legal writing in American law schools.
Sponsor: Freedom from Religion Foundation
Submission Deadline: June 1, 2023
Topic: In short, the essay should seek to answer the question of whether secularism is the "savior" of American democracy.
Sponsor: The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
Submission Deadline: June 1, 2023
Topic: Papers may be on any legal topic in the employee benefits field.
Sponsor: American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution
Submission Deadline: June 9, 2023
Topic: The essay may address any aspect of dispute resolution practice, theory, or research that the contestant chooses.
Sponsor: Mercer University School of Law and the American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights
Submission Deadline: June 9, 2023
Topic: The submission may address any aspect of disability law, theory, or practice the contestant chooses. Other permissible topics include issues arising under any of the following statutes: Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Age Discrimination in Employment Act; Family and Medical Leave Act; or any state statutes or municipal ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Sponsor: Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI)
Submission Deadline: June 12, 2023
Topic: Papers should focus on the areas of law affecting FDA-regulated industries: food, drugs, medical devices, biologics, dietary supplements, cosmetics, veterinary, cannabis, or tobacco and nicotine products.
Sponsor: ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law and The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
Submission Deadline: June 15, 2023
Topic: Papers should be written on current and relevant topics of labor and employment law.
Sponsor: American Bar Association Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section
Submission Deadline: June 30, 2023
Topic: The section seeks entries for its writing competition from all law students who are enrolled in ABA-approved law schools and are members of the ABA Law Student Division.
Sponsor: The ACTEC Foundation
Submission Deadline: June 30, 2023
Topic: The paper must relate to the area of trusts and estates, broadly defined
Sponsor: The American Inns of Court
Submission Deadline: July 1, 2023
Topic: This writing competition is designed to promote scholarship in the areas of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence.
Sponsor: ABA Criminal Justice Section
Submission Deadline: July 1, 2023
Topic: By reversing Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court of the United States in Dobbs v. Jackson (2022) opened the door for states to initiate criminal investigations and prosecutions relating to women obtaining abortions.
What role do federal Constitution rights, such as the Fourth Amendment, as well as parallel state constitutional protections, play in protecting access to potential evidence?
Sponsor: Federal Circuit Bar Association
Submission Deadline: July 1, 2023
Topic: Papers must deal with a topic that lies within the substance, procedure, or scope of the specialized jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Sponsor: Zimmerman Law Firm
Submission Deadline: August 1st, 2023
Topic: Describe why you chose to pursue law and what do plan to do with your law degree once you graduate.
Sponsor: Philadelphia Bar Association
Deadline: August 1, 2023
Topic: Candidates may submit a law review quality submission on any topic relating to rights, privileges, and responsibilities under federal law.
Sponsor: NYSBA Business Law Section
Deadline: August 15, 2023
Topic: The topic of submitted articles should be relevant to the Journal's audience (New York business lawyers), should be timely, original, clear, and concise.
Sponsor: American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section
Deadline: September 8, 2023
Topic: Submissions should address a recent development in any area of aviation or space law or discuss an area of aviation or space law where a controversy or disagreement exists. Entrants are encouraged to write on subjects of national interest, rather than state-specific issues.
Sponsor: Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association
Deadline: September 15, 2023
Topic: Any aspect of Securities Law; Securities Arbitration; The Federal Arbitration Act, Title 9, US Code, Section 1-14; or FINRA Code of Arbitration
Sponsor: The International Fiscal Association (USA Branch)
Deadline: September 30, 2023
Topic: Any topic relating to U.S. taxation of income from international activities, including taxation under U.S. tax treaties.
Sponsor: American Bar Association (ABA) Public Contract Law (PCL) Section
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2023
Topic: Papers should address a topical issue of interest to the public contract and grant law community.
Sponsor: American Agricultural Law Association
Submission Deadline: October 13
Topic: The entry must discuss a modern and relevant topic related to agricultural law.
Sponsor: Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice
Submission Deadline: October 16
Topic: The suggested theme for this year is “A Different World Is Possible: Repro Health, Rights, and Justice Post-Dobbs.” With the constitutional protection for abortion overturned by the Supreme Court, we encourage students to envision creative and expansive approaches to securing reproductive health, rights, and justice for all people. Submissions might explore topics that intersect with If/When/How’s strategic initiatives, such as removing barriers to abortion access and supporting those who seek reproductive care outside the clinical setting, combatting criminalization, strategies for securing reproductive rights at the state or local level, and public funding of reproductive health care through an intersectional, reproductive justice lens. All submissions on other reproductive rights and justice topics are welcomed.
Sponsor: New York Bar Association
Deadline: November 3, 2023
Topic: Any area of public or private international law or practice
Sponsor: ABA
Submission Deadline: November 10, 2023,
Topic: Entries for the Writing Contest must focus on the military’s application of criminal law—also known as military justice. Submissions may advocate a position, educate the reader, or analyze one or more cases.
Sponsor: ABA Taxation Section
Submission Deadlines:
September 1, 2023: J.D. and LL.M. problems released
November 1, 2023: Work products submission deadline, due by or before 5pm ET
Topic: An alternative to traditional moot court competitions, the Law Student Tax Challenge (LSTC) is organized by the Section’s Young Lawyers Form. The LSTC asks two-person teams of students to solve a complex business problem that might arise in everyday tax practice.
Sponsor: American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers
Submission Deadline: November 1, 2023
Topic: Eligible entries must discuss some aspect of U.S. consumer financial services law. Topics that relate principally to securities regulation, bankruptcy, insurance, or the safety and soundness aspects of banking regulation are not eligible, but works on subjects within these (or other) areas will be considered if they bear directly on U.S. consumer financial services law.
The Blanch Law Firm Scholarship Award
Sponsor: The Blanch Law Firm
Submission: Rolling Deadline; Submission are due within 14 days of receipt of assignment.
Topic: The goal of the competition is to find an excellent writer to contribute an outstanding article to their online publication.
Sponsor: New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Labor and Employment Law Section
Submission Deadline: November 30
Topic: Submissions should focus on any timely, compelling aspect of labor and employment law.
Sponsor: Video Game Bar Association
Submission Deadline: December 1, 2023
Topic: Applicants will submit an original paper on a legal issue in the video game industry.
Sponsor: American Journal of Mediation
Submission Deadline: December 15, 2023
Topic: Subject matter focus for entries can embrace the full range of the alternative dispute resolution field– consensus-based dispute resolution (e.g., negotiation, mediation), adjudicative processes (e.g., early neutral evaluation, binding or non-binding arbitration and private judging), or mixed processes (e.g., arb-med, med-arb, high low arbitration, baseball arbitration). Papers can also focus on ADR process design, practice techniques, specific case studies, related legislation, and ethical dilemmas and standards for dispute resolution professionals.
Sponsor: Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law
Submission Deadline: December 18, 2023
Topic: TThe Dukeminier Awards annually recognize the best law review note written by a student in the field of sexual orientation and gender identity law.
Sponsor: Armstrong, Lee & Baker LLP
Deadline: December 31, 2023
Topic: In your essay submission, we want to hear about:
What compelled you to become a lawyer?
Are there any meaningful reasons that you wanted to enter the legal field that you feel are unique?
Are there any special areas of law that you would like to target?
What are the goals through your first years as an attorney that you would like to accomplish?
Sponsor: New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Business Law Section
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2022
Topic: The competition is open to all students who are candidates for the JD or LLM degree at an accredited law school during the year in which the article is submitted. All articles submitted will be judged on relevance to the Journal's audience (New York business lawyers), timeliness of the topic, originality, quality of research and writing, and clarity and conciseness.
Sponsor: Ohio State Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section
Submission Deadline: September 6, 2022
Topic: The goal of the competition is to explore relevant and innovative scholarly work from Ohio's law students in one specific area of corporate governance challenges, specifically the pandemic's accelerated transformation to a remote workforce in almost every industry and profession.
Sponsor: Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA)
Submission Deadline: September 16, 2022
Topic: 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 16, 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.
Sponsor: International Fiscal Association (USA Branch)
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2022
Topic: Submissions will be accepted on any topic relating to U.S. taxation of income from international activities, including taxation under U.S. tax treaties.
Sponsor: American Bar Association (ABA) Public Contract Law (PCL) Section
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2022
Topic: Papers should address a topical issue of interest to the public contract and grant law community.
Sponsor: New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) International Law Section
Submission Deadline: November 5, 2022
Topic: Submissions must concern one area of public or private international law or practice.
Sponsor: Brooks Kushman
Submission Deadline: November 16, 2022
Competition Date: November 19, 2022
Topic: Brooks Kushman will present an award, based on excellence, to a law student who drafts claims consistent with the instructions given during the competition.
Sponsor: ABA
Submission Deadline: November 11, 2022
Topic: Entries for the Writing Contest must focus on the military’s application of criminal law—also known as military justice. Submissions may advocate a position, educate the reader, or analyze one or more cases.
Sponsor: ABA Taxation Section
Submission Deadline: November 7, 2022
Topic: An alternative to traditional moot court competitions, the Law Student Tax Challenge (LSTC) is organized by the Section’s Young Lawyers Form. The LSTC asks two-person teams of students to solve a complex business problem that might arise in everyday tax practice.
Sponsor: American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers
Submission Deadline: December 1, 2022
Topic: Eligible entries must discuss some aspect of U.S. consumer financial services law. Topics that relate principally to securities regulation, bankruptcy, insurance, or the safety and soundness aspects of banking regulation are not eligible, but works on subjects within these (or other) areas will be considered if they bear directly on U.S. consumer financial services law.
Sponsor: Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law
Submission Deadline: December 18, 2022
Topic: Student Writing Competition annually recognizes the best law review note written by a student in the field of sexual orientation and gender identity law.