Law Student Writing Competitions: Writing Competitions

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: ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
Submission Deadline: April 14, 2023
Topic: Papers must address a recent development in admiralty and maritime law.

Sponsor: ABA Section of Family Law
Submission Deadline: April 15, 2023
Topic: The subject may be any aspect of family law. The primary focus of each essay should be an issue of law, although
some interdisciplinary material may be useful in addressing a legal issue

Sponsor: R. Ben Hogan III of Hogan Law Office and Gerson H. Smoger of Smoger & Associates
Submission Deadline: April 29, 2023
Topic: Each year, students will write about a different topic. This year, students are directed to write about legal remedies to combat climate change.

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: Epstein Becker Green
Submission Deadline: May 19, 2023
Topic: Papers may address any traditional area of the law as applied to health care (e.g., antitrust, tax, corporate) or areas of law unique to health care

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: 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: 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: 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: Vermont Journal of Environmental Law
Submission Deadline: March 20, 2023
Topic: Any article that explores a legal environmental topic. For examples of what kinds of Articles VJEL looks for, please visit the Publications Page.

Sponsor: Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems and the University of Iowa College of Law
Submission Deadline: March 17, 2023
Topic: Any contemporary international business or economic concern.

Sponsor: Health Law Institute
Submission Deadline: March 15, 2023
Topic: This Writing Competition recognizes law students for innovative, strategic, and sound approaches to tackling complex contemporary health care regulatory and compliance issues.

Sponsor: The University of Oklahoma
Submission Deadline: February 28, 2023
Topic: Papers will be accepted on any legal issue specifically concerning American Indians or other indigenous peoples

Sponsor: New York Intellectual Property Law Association
Submission Deadline: February 27, 2023
Topic: Established to recognize exceptionally written papers that are submitted by law students and is presented each year at the Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner.

Sponsor: ABA Anti-Trust Section
Submission Deadline: February 25, 2023
Topic: This Writing Competition encourages and rewards student-written articles in the area of antitrust law, competition policy, and consumer protection law.

Sponsored: ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability and Long & Levit, LLP
Submission Deadline: February 15, 2023
Topic: Essay contest for law students and young lawyers encouraging scholarship and innovative research and writing in the area of legal malpractice law, professional liability insurance, and loss prevention.

Sponsor: American Constitution Society (ACS)
Submission Deadline: February 12, 2023
Topic: This writing competition seeks to encourage and reward the qualities demonstrated by Judge Richard D. Cudahy in the fields of regulatory and administrative law, and an appreciation of the public impact of doctrinal and institutional choices, including the consequences for fundamental values such as fairness, participation, and transparency in the scholarship of others.

Sponsor: American Constitution Society (ACS) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School ACS Chapter
Submission Deadline: February 12, 2023
Topic: 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, and we welcome submissions on a variety of substantive areas.

Sponsor: The American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section Consumer Protection Committee
Submission Deadline: February 10, 2023
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: McGill University Faculty of Law
Submission Deadline: February 6, 2023
Topic: The overarching goal of the Baxter Family Competition on Federalism is to advance research and foster informed debate on federalism, in Canada and abroad. The competition is open to both to law and political science students and young practitioners from around the world.  

Sponsor: The Beverly Hills Bar Association and Bar Foundation
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2023
Topic: This competition encourages law students to integrate Rule of Law concepts into their writings.

Sponsor: American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2023
Topic: Papers may be on any topic in the employee benefits field.

Sponsor: American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section
Submission Deadline: January 20, 2023
Topic: The competition encourages and rewards law students for their outstanding writing on business law topics.

Sponsor: Brooks Kushman
Submission Deadline: January 18, 2023
Topic: Brooks Kushman will present an award, based on excellence, to a law student who
writes a substantive paper on any aspect of trademark or patent law.

Sponsor: IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law's Institute for Law and the Workplace (ILW) and Jackson Lewis LLP
Submission Deadline: January 18, 2023
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: The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association
Submission Deadline: January 3, 2023
Topic: Each Scholarship candidate must write an original paper on any legal issue of current interest in the area of entertainment, art or sports law. You may submit any paper for the scholarship that you previously submitted for a school assignment.

Sponsor: John F. Burton Jr. College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2023
Topic: The scope of permissible topics is broad, i.e., any aspect of workers’ compensation law. Students are encouraged to present: public policy issue; critique of a leading case or doctrine; or comment on a statute or the need for a statutory modification.

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.