Law Student Writing Contests: Suffolk University Competitions

This competition seeks to foster legal scholarship among law students in the area of animals and the law. This competition provides law students with an incentive and opportunity to learn more about this area of law. Law students (which include J.D., L.L.M., Ph.D., and S.J.D. candidates), are invited to submit to the Committee on Animals and the Law, an article concerning any area of Animal Law. All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of attorneys and other professionals practicing or otherwise involved in animal law. The winner will be chosen in accordance with the competition rules.

The International Insolvency Institute is pleased to announce its 2023 Prize in International Insolvency Studies. The Prize in International Insolvency Studies comprises a Gold Medal Prize for the winning submission as well as a Silver Medal Prize, a Bronze Medal Prize, and several Finalist Prizes. The Prizes are accompanied by an honorarium for the Medal winners.
The III Prize is awarded for original legal research, commentary or analysis on topics of international insolvency and restructuring significance and on comparative international analysis of domestic insolvency and restructuring issues and developments. The Prize Competition is open to full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students and to practitioners in practice for nine years or less.

Any contemporary international business or economic concern. Recent winning submissions have included such topics as recommendations the United States should follow to update its privacy laws to harmonize with international general data protection regulation commitments, why international labor organizations should adopt fair trade as an enforcement mechanism to end labor violations, and why the United States Treasury should wait for Congress to end corporate tax sheltering tactics.

The Hutchinson Writing Contest Committee annually administers a writing competition in honor of George Hutchinson, who was the first Chief Clerk of the Federal Circuit and still is highly active in the Federal Circuit Bar Association and The Federal Circuit Historical Society. The Committee promotes the competition to law school students throughout the United States by establishing and maintaining relations with law school officials and student groups related to subject matter areas within the Federal Circuit’s jurisdiction. The Committee solicits members of the Federal Circuit Bar Association to review and score papers that students submit. The Bar Association awards the student whose submission receives the highest score a substantial cash prize, typically at the Annual Dinner of the Bar Association. In addition to the recognition the winner receives at the dinner, the Journal of the Federal Circuit Bar Association publishes the winning paper.

ACS welcomes all student papers furthering and promoting a progressive vision of the Constitution, law, and public policy. Entrants are encouraged to view this topic broadly, and they welcome submissions on a variety of substantive areas. Examples of possible topics include: census report, civil legal aid, civil liberties, constitutional convention, consumer rights, criminal justice, disability rights, freedom of speech, immigration, indigent defense, money in politics (including judicial elections), labor law, LGBTQ+ rights, privacy, protection of health, safety, and the environment, racial equality, religion, role of state attorneys general, second amendment and guns, separation of powers and federalism, women’s reproductive rights and reproductive freedom, voting and political process, and whistleblower protection.

Open to all ongoing law school students up to age 30 already attending a North American law school. All eligible entrants will receive a full 1-year complimentary student membership in FFRF, which includes a digital version of 10 issues of Freethought Today, FFRF's newspaper (publishes winning student essays). In this essay, one must make the strongest argument possible under the current caselaw that a law banning or restricting abortion should be invalidated based on the religious liberty interests of a potential plaintiff.

Each year, the Women Trial Lawyers Caucus awards a $5,000 scholarship to a female student entering her third year of law school (the student can be enrolled in a three-year day program or four-year night program) who has demonstrated a commitment to a career as a trial lawyer, along with dedication to upholding and defending the principles of the Constitution, and to the concept of a fair trial, the adversary system, and a just result for the injured, the accused, and those whose rights are jeopardized. Additionally, the winner receives a registration and travel stipend to attend the AAJ Annual Convention.

Each year The American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers seeks to recognize written contributions to the field of U.S. consumer financial services law. Eligible papers include publishable articles, substantial book reviews, or book chapters; books; and student case note or comment. Official publications of or by government agencies are not eligible. In any year, depending on the quality of the submissions, awards may be made in all, some, or none of these three categories.

This national writing competition seeks to promote legal scholarship centering on criminal justice reform. Applicants may write on any criminal justice topic, but all submissions should offer a recommendation or solution to the problem(s) being highlighted. Articles must be no longer than 10,000 words (including footnotes), but shorter articles are also encouraged. Applicants should include a cover page indicating their school and year of graduation. Applicants must be enrolled full-time at an ABA-accredited law school at the time of submission.

Since 2005, the College has sponsored an annual writing competition for law students, to encourage them to learn about employee benefits. Papers may be on any legal topic in the employee benefits field and may be up to 40 pages (including footnotes).

Students enrolled in law school anywhere in the world as of December 2022, and seeking a first degree in law, such as a juris doctor, LL. B. or an equivalent, are eligible to submit an article for consideration in the IEL Hartrick Scholar competition. The general subject for this year’s competition is any topic related to energy development.

The American Society for Pharmacy Law (ASPL) recognizes outstanding scholarship related to Pharmacy Law with the Simonsmeier Award. The Award recognizes an outstanding paper relating to the interests of ASPL published during the prior two years (2021 and 2022).

The Eighth Annual AUWCL National Law Writing 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. Current 2L, 3L, and 4L (part-time) JD and LLM students enrolled in a U.S. law school at the time of paper submission are eligible to participate.

The Jan Jancin Awards are merit-based scholarship awards that recognize rising second and third year law students from diverse backgrounds who are underrepresented racial or ethnic minorities, who have expressed an interest in pursuing a career as an IP lawyer, and who have engaged in activities reflecting that interest.

The Foundation for Advancement of Diversity in IP Law is currently seeking applicants for its Sidney B. Williams, Jr. Scholar Program. Applicants must be members of a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the patent law profession and be seeking admission to attend full time a ABA-accredited law school in the United States. Applications are also accepted from individuals who have been admitted to law school but have not yet enrolled.