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PBA Essay Competition 2023

The Property Bar Association is pleased to launch its Essay Competition 2023 designed to recognise academic achievement and help to identify future property barristers and encourage an interest in property law.

The competition is open to all law undergraduates, LLM, GDL and BPTC students.

The 2023 Essay Question is:

"Has equity been taken too far in enforcing informal promises of interests in land?” 

Entrants are invited to submit an entry of not more than 1,000 words.  Entries should be in word format, text 12 point, 1.5 spaced and sent to  [email protected] .

Writing Competition

The  Harvard Law Review  is composed of second- and third-year law students who are selected via a six-day writing competition at the end of each academic year. The Review strongly encourages all students to participate in the writing competition, which consists of two parts:

• Subcite: this portion, worth 50% of the competition score, requires students to perform a technical and substantive edit of an excerpt from an unpublished article
• Case Comment : this portion, also worth 50%, requires students to describe and analyze a recent case

The competition uses a closed universe of materials provided to all competition-takers; no additional outside research of any kind is allowed or required. The use of any form of Artificial Intelligence during the competition is also strictly prohibited.

Based on the competition, fifty-four second-year students are invited to join the Review each year, including:

• Twenty selected based solely on competition scores
• Seven (one from each 1L section) selected based on an equally weighted combination of competition scores and first-year grades
• Three (from any section) selected based on an equally weighted combination of competition scores and first-year grades
• Twenty-four selected through an anonymous holistic review (see below for details)

The  Review  is committed to a diverse and inclusive membership and encourages all students to participate in the writing competition. Harvard Law School students who are interested in joining the  Review  must write the competition at the end of their first year, even if they plan to take time off during law school or are pursuing a joint degree and plan to spend time at another graduate school.

Timeline & Resources

The 2024 Competition will take place from Sunday, May 12 to Saturday, May 18 . Writing competition tips and Q&A sessions will be held in early and mid-April.

Registration will open in April 2024. We expect to invite editors to join Volume 139 over the course of several days in late July. Orientation for new editors is scheduled for the week of July 22nd and will take place remotely. Volume 139 will resume a past practice of an in-person Orientation for half a day near the start of the Fall 2024 Semester. Editors are expected to be fully available during this time. In August, editors will have Law Review assignments, but these assignments can be completed simultaneously with other commitments (internships, events, travel, etc.).

For more information about the competition, the following resources are available:

• The 2024 Application and Information Packet . The application information packet is designed to provide some specific guidance about approaching the case comment and subcite portions of the competition. Please note that the sample competition submissions included in the packet are merely representative and are by no means definitive examples.
• Tips Session and Q&A. Video of our April 1, 2024 writing competition tips session and our April 11, 2024 subcite Q & A session is available on our YouTube channel. The. This questions and answers document summarizes the Q&A portion of the April 13, 2023 session.
• Factsheet: This document responds to common questions and concerns we have heard.
• Sample Schedules: This includes a variety of writing competition schedules used by current editors.
• FAQ on Accommodations . See below for more information on disabilities and accommodations.

Competition & Membership Policies

Holistic consideration.

Applicants will have the opportunity to convey aspects of their identity which have led to the development of character qualities or unique abilities that can contribute to the Law Review , including but not limited to their racial or ethnic identity, disability status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. Applicants can do so by submitting an additional expository statement.  Statements will be considered by the Selection Committee only after grading of the competition has been completed. Statements will remain anonymous and will not be evaluated for quality of writing or editing, nor will they be assigned a numerical score.

Applicants are welcome to draft their expository statements before the competition week begins, and the prompt for the 200-word statement is as follows:

“You are strongly encouraged to use the space below to submit a typed expository statement of no more than 200 words. This statement may identify and describe aspects of your identity which have impacted your development of certain character qualities or unique abilities that can serve as an asset to the Law Review and are not fully captured by the categories on the previous page, including, but not limited to, racial or ethnic identity, socioeconomic background, disability (physical, intellectual, cognitive/ neurological, psychiatric, sensory, developmental, or other), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, country of origin or international status, religious identity or expression, undergraduate institution(s), age, academic or career trajectory prior to law school, military status, cultural background, or parental/caretaker status. Additionally or alternatively, you may use this statement to identify and describe areas of academic or scholarly interest, career goals, or any other element of your identity that you would bring to your work on the Law Review .

Statements will be considered only after grading of the subcite and case comment sections of the competition has been completed. Statements will not be evaluated for quality of writing or editing, nor will they be assigned a numerical score. No applicant will be penalized in any way for not submitting an optional statement, and all optional statements are completely confidential.”

Deferral & Leave

Harvard Law Review will invite students to join Vol. 139 in mid-July. Students invited to join Vol. 138 who are taking a full-year leave of absence from HLS will be allowed to defer their membership in Law Review for the year. They may then join the Law Review as members of Vol. 140 in fall 2025 and serve as editors for two years. Editors typically serve for two full academic years to ensure ample time for training, acclimation to their roles on the Review , and opportunities to make collective decisions about our work.

Students invited to join Vol. 139 who are taking a fall-semester leave of absence from HLS are encouraged to still join as editors with Vol. 139. If joining with Vol. 139, editors will be expected to complete Law Review work during the fall, even though they are on leave from HLS. They will then serve as editors for two years. Alternatively, students taking a one-semester leave may wait to join until fall of the following year (fall 2025); in that case, they will have no Law Review obligations during the 2024-2025 academic year and will participate as Law Review editors for a single year.

Transfer Students

Prospective transfer students may take the competition at the same time as Harvard Law School 1Ls. Prospective transfer students are selected on the same anonymous grading basis as Harvard 1Ls and are eligible for 44 of the spots on the Review (in other words, all spots besides the 10 allotted to Harvard 1Ls for whom first-year grades play a role). Prospective transfer students may submit an anonymized, unofficial transcript when their 1L grades are released if they would like their grades to be considered in the Law Review ’s holistic review process. The Review ’s membership decisions do not affect the admissions decisions of Harvard Law School.

Recognizing that the competition schedule poses unique challenges to prospective transfer applicants, the Review also allows transfer students to take the competition at the end of their 2L year. Up to four spots are available for such students. However, no student may attempt the competition more than once, and this option is only available to transfer students who did not previously take the competition. Like prospective transfer students, rising third-year students may submit their grades, but they will not be eligible for the 10 slots that incorporate first-year grades.

Prospective 1L transfer students should email [email protected] for information about registering.

SJD Students

SJD students at Harvard Law School may serve as editors of the Law Review . To join, SJDs take the same writing competition as JD students and are eligible for 44 of the editorial positions (all spots besides those allotted to JD 1Ls for whom first-year grades play a role). SJDs should take the competition only if they are certain they have at least two years remaining in their program of study. Additionally, as with all candidates, SJDs are permitted to participate in the writing competition only once.

Disabilities & Accommodations

The Harvard Law Review is firmly committed to providing accommodations for students with disabilities and handles requests on a case-by-case basis. The Law Review is an independent entity and thus has its own accommodations system separate from Harvard Law School’s Dean of Students Office.

Accommodations requests can be submitted between Monday, March 11th and Friday, April 12th and will be processed on a rolling basis. Students are strongly encouraged to submit their accommodation requests as soon as possible even if they are not yet certain they will take the competition. Please see our answers to FAQ on accommodations to learn more about what documentation is needed.

The Law Review strives to keep information regarding disabilities and accommodations as confidential as possible. Nothing about your accommodations application or your receipt of accommodations will be part of the Competition entry that is considered in the selection process. All Competition grading is doubly anonymized. Jennifer Heath, a non-student HLR staff member manages the logistics related to our accommodations process, and accommodations recommendations to the Law Review are made by our testing consultant, Dr. Loring Brinckerhoff.

Law Essay Competitions

From learnmore.

• 1.1 The Andrew Lockley Public Law Essay Competition
• 1.2 vLex International Law & Technology Writing Competition
• 1.3 Golding Essay Prize
• 1.4 Times Law Awards
• 1.5 The Graham Turnbull Memorial International Human Rights Essay Competition
• 1.6 Bar Council Law Reform Essay
• 1.7 JLD Essay Competition
• 1.8 UKELA Andrew Lees Prize
• 1.9 ARDL Marion Simmons QC Essay Competition
• 1.10 FIDE Essay Prize
• 1.11 Future Legal Mind Award
• 1.12 Property Bar Association Essay Competition
• 1.13 SCL Student Essay Prize
• 1.14 Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on Intellectual Property Law
• 1.15 UK Centre for Animal Law Essay Competition
• 1.16 The Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law Essay Competition
• 1.17 Littleton Chambers Sports Law Essay Competition
• 1.18 Human Rights Essay Award
• 1.19 FSLA Essay Competition
• 1.20 ITSA Essay Competition

Feeling like a winner?

There are lots of opportunities to try out your writing expertise throughout the year...sometimes for money (oh and prestige and worldwide fame of course...).

The Andrew Lockley Public Law Essay Competition

Irwin Mitchell run this competition for aspiring public law and human rights solicitors and it is a fantastic opportunity to get your name out there, win a £250 Blackwell's gift card and to develop your legal writing skills.

It is open to law students, graduates, paralegals and trainee solicitors.

Entrants are asked to submit an essay of no more than 1500 words on the following topic:

What key factors should the courts consider and give most weight to when balancing the rights to freedom of expression and assembly of protestors with disruption to other members of the public?

Deadline is: 31st October 2023. Find full details of the competition, including the rules via the Irwin Mitchell website .

vLex International Law & Technology Writing Competition

This annual competition (it has been running since 2018) centres around three new themes each year. For 2024 these are:

• Immigration
• Large language models
• Industrial action

As in previous years, the winner receives a whopping £1500, with additional prizes for runners-up.

Have a look at the vLex Writing Competition page to see the rules, Ts &Cs and the work of winners from the previous competitions . You can also get inspiration on the set themes.

Max number of words is 1000. Deadline is 1st December 2023.

Golding Essay Prize

The Competition Law Association runs an annual competition for any student, trainee solicitor, pupil barrister or trainee patent and trade mark attorney. First prize is £1000.

The 2024 Essay Prize title asked for entrants to address the following title:

As the importance of renewable energy increases, will patents continue to play a central role in protecting those rights or will renewable companies rely on trade secrets and confidential information only?

Look at the competition website for inspiration from previous winning essays. The rules and background for this year's competition can be accessed via the CLA website .

Times Law Awards

The biggest of these law essay competition is The Times Law Award. Last year's competition deadline was mid-Jan and prizes were substantial, with £3,500 for the winner and £2,500 and £1,500 for second and third place. Not bad for a 1000 word essay on a given topic!

Last year's title was:

Should states and private parties be entitled to recover reparations from aggressor states, and if so, how??

You can see the prize-winning essays (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 3 runners-up going all the way back to 1995) on the One Essex Court/Times Law Award website .

We'll update this as soon as this year's competition is announced.

We're very proud of the incredible number of City students and alumni who have performed so well in this competition over the years. We have seen the following successes from them:

GDL student Charlie Colenutt was runner-up in 2020 * BPTC student William Beddows was runner-up in 2019 * BPTC student Katie Ratcliffe (3rd) in 2018 * GDL student Genevieve Woods (1st) in 2017 * Joshua Brown (1st) and Gavin Dingley (2nd) in 2016 * BPTC students George White (1st) and Lara Hassell (3rd) (Lara completed the GDL at City in the previous year) and BPTC alumnus James Beeton (2nd) in 2014 * GDL students Andrew Lomas (1st) and Lara Hassell (2nd) in 2013 * GDL and BPTC alumni James Potts (1st) and GDL student Thomas Coates (2nd) in 2012 * GDL student Anthony Pavlovich (1st) in 2011 * GDL student Anita Davies (1st) in 2010. Anita's winning essay was described by Jack Straw as "an engaging, erudite piece of prose" * GDL student Amy Rogers (1st) in 2006 * GDL student Sarah Love (joint 1st) in 2005 * BVC student James Brilliant (1st) in 2004 * GDL student Mathew Guillick (1st) in 2002 *

The Graham Turnbull Memorial International Human Rights Essay Competition

An annual competition named after Graham Turnbull, an English solicitor who did much to promote respect for human rights. Graham was killed in 1997, working as a human rights monitor on the United Nations Human Rights Mission in Rwanda.

Until 2023, the competition was administered by the Law Society but is now managed by the Graham Turnbull Memorial Fund independently.

The competition is open to law students, trainee solicitors, pupil barristers and all solicitors/barristers within 3 years of admission/call. It asked for essays of no more than 2000 words in length and awards the winner of this prestigious award, £500. The title for the 2023 competition is:

What are the human rights implications of the failure of a state to take action to prevent global temperature rises which threaten the health or lives of their citizens?

Previous winners include Niall Coghlan (2013 competition) and Nick Jones (2019 competition), who were both on the GDL programme at City. You can read the winning entries all the way back to 2010 on the Law Society page for inspiration in the meantime...

Entries should be sent to [email protected] prior to the deadline - 5pm on the 20th October 2023. I've put the full rules on the Lawbore blog for you.

Bar Council Law Reform Essay

Sponsored by the Bar Council Scholarship Trust, this competition is open to students and pupils and requires entrants to write a piece of less than 3000 words proposing the case for a law reform which is desirable, practical and useful. Top prize is £4000 which could come in very handy for funding some part of your legal education.

City GDL students have won in previous years: Daisy Ricketts (2011) and Calum Docherty (2010) were both successful. Calum proposed the reform of copyright law in Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Reforming Fair Dealing in English Copyright Law and Daisy with Strengthening the Rule of Law: Reforming the Scope on Parliamentary Privilege . In 2012 City student Mek Mesfin was runner-up in the CPE category and in 2013 Ross Beaton , a City GDL alumni won the overall prize. You can see all previous winners and read their essays via the Bar Council website .

Phoebe Whitlock won in the GDL category for 2016's competition with an entry entitled Rivalling Silicon Valley: The case for the reform of Software Patents. Take a look at the CityNews story about this. For the 2017 competition, GDL student Clarissa Wigoder won first prize with her essay Spare the rod: Why the law on corporal punishment needs to be reformed, and Daniel Fox was named runner-up with his piece: I hate being idle: Asylum seekers and the right to work. In 2020 BPTC alumnus Oliver Brewis won for his piece: Unravelling the Sleeve of Care: Fair Remuneration for Employer-contracted Sleep . In 2021, GDL student Annika Weis won with her entry: Licence to sanction - Stopping Environmental Crimes through UK Magnitsky legislation . Last year, GDL student Raphael Marshall was first runner-up in the competition.

Take a look at their entries (and other winners back to 2018) via the Bar Council website . The competition information usually comes out in April and the deadline for entries for 2023 is 23rd October at 5pm.

JLD Essay Competition

Open to its members, the Junior Lawyers Network of the Law Society , have an annual competition for those registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. This includes LPC students and those qualified and working as paralegals. The deadline is normally around the end of November each year and they generally ask for essays of no more than 2000 words. I can't currently find any information about this year's competition, so have fired off an email to the organisation. Update soon!

Essay titles from previous years include:

Is there a role for the legal profession in environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations?

What’s in a name? Is the title of solicitor still relevant??

How will the rule of law be affected by advances in legal technology?

UKELA Andrew Lees Prize

Named for a former Friends of the Earth Campaign Director (Andrew Lees, a leading environmental campaigner who died unexpectedly in 1994) this prize has been going many years. You can view previous winners on the site and the winner normally receives support for travel and attendance at the UKELA annual conference as well as see your work published in their members' journal.

The deadline for submissions is usually around early April of each year. The 2024 competition is likely to launch in January 2024.

Find out more about the competition and associated rules on the UKELA website , as well as essay winners from past years.

The 2023 competition pivoted around the following statement: 'If we are to meet the challenges of the climate and nature crises, it is essential to strengthen current approaches to environmental governance. Discuss'. You can read the winning entry via the UKELA website.

ARDL Marion Simmons QC Essay Competition

Annual essay competition from the Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers . Students are asked to write no more than 1500 words on a topic. The competition asks applicants to submit an essay on a regulatory law or disciplinary law topic of their choice.

First prize winner takes home £2000, second prize winner £1000 and third prize £500. Details of the competition are normally released in February, with a deadline for submission in late April.

Entry is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students in the UK and a wide range of early practitioners too. You can see full eligibility details via the competition website .

FIDE Essay Prize

The UK Association for European Law also run an essay competition, with the winner securing a bursary to attend the biennial FIDE CONGRESS Conference, which usually takes place in May.

Students are generally asked to write no more than 2000 words (including footnotes) on the topic provided.

Submissions are judged by a panel from the UKAEL committee, who will award the winner registration at the conference in addition to £600 towards accommodation and travel. The winner of this prize in 2018 was William Spence, GDL student at City. In 2014 another City student (BPTC) took the prize, Niall Coghlan. You can read both their essays via the UKAEL website. Niall has had a great year for developing his European Law expertise - he was also part of the team that won the European Human Rights Moot in Strasbourg.

Sadly the competition has been on pause in recent years and will likely not run in 2024.

Future Legal Mind Award

Launched in 2014 by the National Accident Helpline the winner of this competition will receive £1500 towards their career development, as well as gain access to mentoring and a work experience placement.

There are separate awards for undergraduates and postgraduates. The last time the competition ran was 2022. You can find out more about the competition and see the winning entries via the National Accident Helpline competition website . The organisers have confirmed that it will run again in 2024.

The 2015 winner in the postgraduate category was Lukas Hamilton-Eddy (City GDL student). In 2016 the prize was again won by a City GDL student, Tom Phillips. He wowed judges with his essay on the future of legal services for firms and consumers. Another City student, Pavlos Artemios Xagoraris also made the finalists stage. Pavlos is in the first year of his Graduate Entry LLB. Katherine Strange (GDL) was a finalist in 2017. We're overdue another City winner!

Property Bar Association Essay Competition

This competition was launched in November 2015 and asks students each year to write a 1000-word essay, with the winner taking home £1000, a copy of Megarry & Wade AND their essay published in the Estates Gazette .

The question for 2023 was Has equity been taken too far in enforcing informal promises of interests in land?

The question is normally released in November each year and the essay deadline in early January.

Arabella Adams (City GDL) won the 2017 competition and Elijah Granet (City GDL) won first prize in the 2020 competition .

SCL Student Essay Prize

The Society for Computers and Law annual essay competition asks entrants to write a maximum of 2000 words in order to be in with a chance of winning a free place at the annual SCL Conference, publication of your essay in the SCL Computers and Law magazine and £300. The competition honours the memory of the amazing Sir Henry Brooke, a former President of SCL.

The 2021 competition (deadline was in November of that year) asked students to address the following question in fewer than 2500 words:

There is increasing concern that machine learning tools embed bias in their operations and outputs. To what extent does the law currently provide adequate protection from or adequate redress in respect of any such discrimination?

We've contacted the SCL to find out if this competition will run in 2024.

Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on Intellectual Property Law

This competition was launched in 2020 by SpicyIP , in honour of their founder Professor Shamnad Basheer. Excitingly this competition asks for submissions on anything related to intellectual property rights – the more creative the better. The call generally comes out in May of each year.

The word limit for submissions is 5,000 words (inclusive of footnotes) and the deadline for submissions is June 30, 2020 (23:59 IST).

All submissions and any queries should be e-mailed to [email protected].

The competition is open to students currently enrolled in any LLB program (or its equivalent – meaning students enrolled in J.D. programs can take part) across the world.

We are awaiting information on the 4th annual essay competition but you can see the winners of the 2022 competition and their essays via the SpicyIP website .

UK Centre for Animal Law Essay Competition

The details of the 2024 competition will be released in November 2023.

Last year's competition title was:

Can the UK’s hunting legislation be reformed to ensure practical protection for UK wildlife? .

The inaugral competition was won by City GDL and BVS student Sam Groom. You can see a fantastic video of Sam speaking about the competition on the competition website.

First prize is a £150 book voucher and the chance to get your essay published in the UK Journal of Animal Law.

The Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law Essay Competition

The organisers state that the aim of their competition is to:

...encourage students to explore the fascinating questions that animals rights raise, and to discuss these questions in an original piece of writing that may inspire them to engage further with the topic in the future.

No information regarding the 2024 competition yet but in 2023 the question was as follows:

Richard Ryder once wrote: “Since Darwin, scientists have agreed that there is no ‘magical’ essential difference between human and other animals, biologically-speaking. Why then do we make an almost total distinction morally?” Assuming that is correct, how does this affect the arguments for and against animal rights laws?

The winning essay in the university category receives £750. You can read winning essays from the previous years of the competition via the competition website .

Littleton Chambers Sports Law Essay Competition

This annual competition from Littleton Chambers offers young lawyers the chance to get their ideas out to the wider sporting community and various monetary prizes, plus a sports law mini-pupillage. First prize is £1000, second prize £500 and third place receives £250.

The 2023 competition deadline was end of February 2023, so we anticipate a similar one for the 2024 competition. Entrants were asked to submit a piece of work between 1,500 and 2,500 words, on the following title:

Transparency has been prized as foundational to good governance in sport (see, for instance, the International Olympic Committee’s Basic Universal Principles of Good Governance, principle 2). To what extent (if at all) are sport regulators justified in using confidential procedures, such as arbitration, to deal with participant misconduct?

Until we get the info for the 2024 competition, have a look at the information on the 2023 competition pages .

Human Rights Essay Award

The Human Rights Essay Award is an annual competition (sponsored by the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Washington College of Law) that seeks to stimulate the production of scholarly work in international human rights law.

The Academy will grant two Awards, one for the best article in English and one for the best article in Spanish. The Award in each case will consist of:

• A full scholarship to the Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for either the Diploma or Certificate of Attendance options.
• Travel expenses to and from Washington D.C. (if the competition is not virtual)
• Housing at the university dorms
• Per diem for living expenses
• The best articles may also be published in the American University International Law Review

It is open to all lawyers around the world regardless of their nationality, but participants must already have a law degree Juris Doctor, (J.D.), Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) or equivalent by the submission due date to be eligible. They must also have a demonstrated experience or interest in international human rights law.

The 2022 topic was Climate Change and Human Rights: Impacts, Responsibilities, and Opportunities and the deadline was the end of January.

We are awaiting information on the 2024 competition.

FSLA Essay Competition

The Financial Services Lawyers Association runs an annual essay competition, normally with a deadline of early October each year. First prize is a generous £1500 and a legal internship at the FCA.

The 2023 competition title is Can the risks and opportunities of AI in financial services be managed by fine-tuning existing regulation, or is a new approach required? You need to get your entries in by midnight on 6th October 2023.

Look at the FSLA website for full details/rules. Note that membership of the FSLA is free to students!

ITSA Essay Competition

Open to students members of the Inner Temple, the 2023 competition asks entrants for essays of 2500 words maximum (including refs) on the following topic:

Is the Cab Rank Rule now redundant at the self-employed Bar?

Deadline is 4pm on Monday 6th November 2023 and first prize is £150 and publication of your essay in the Inner Temple Yearbook. Look at the competition website for full rules of the competition .

Intellectual Property

Ip  and tech writing competitions.

• ALAI European Author’s Right Award
• American Constitution Society Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition on Regulatory and Administrative Law 
• American Society Of Legal Writers: Law Review Award Competition
• ATRIP Essay Competition for Young Researchers in Intellectual Property Law??????
• Berkeley Technology Law Journal Writing Competition
• BPLA Writing Competition
• Chapman Llc Scholarship For Law Students
• Cork Online Law Review
• Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Writing Competition for Young Lawyers
• DRI Law Student Diversity Scholarship Application
• Fitch Scholarship For Students
• Georgetown Law Technology Review Student Writing Competition
• IDEA Student IP Writing Competition
• Intellectual Property Student Writing Competition
• IP Annual Writing Competition
• Jan Jancin Competition
• Ladas Memorial Award
• Laws101.Com Scholarship
• Legal Tech Fictional Writing Competition
• New York Intellectual Property Law Association William C. Conner Intellectual Property Law Writing Competition
• Robert C. Watson Award
• Sidney B. Williams Scholarship
• The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship
• Trandafir Writing Competition
• UCLA JOLT Writing Competition 
• USPTO Patent Application Drafting Competition
• Virginia Bar Intellectual Property Law Student Writing Competition
• William & Mary Center for Legal & Court Technology (CLCT) Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition

AccessLex Law School Scholarship Databank – Writing Competitions

A scholarship can make all the difference..

Search over 800 carefully curated and vetted scholarship opportunities and writing competitions — totaling more than  $3 million in aid.

As you use the AccessLex Law School Scholarship Databank, let Ask EDNA! be your guide for personal finance, paying for law school, navigating student loans, and preparing for licensure! 

Writing Competitions

Award amount.

• Up to $5,000 (78)
• $5,001 to $10,000 (3)
• $10,001 to $15,000 (1)
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• Yes - 501-1000 words (1-2 pages) (1)
• Yes - 1001-1500 words (2-3 pages) (1)
• Yes - 1501-2000 words (3-4 pages) (0)
• Yes - 2001 - 2500 words (4-5 pages) (2)
• Yes - More than 2500 words (5+ pages) (70)

Merit Based

Transcript required, the marshall manne schulmann competition for student papers in criminal law and/or criminal procedure.

The Criminal Law Section of the California Lawyers Association is pleased to announce the Marshall M. Schulman Annual Competition for Student Papers in Criminal Law and/or Criminal Procedure.

California Lawyers Association (CLA) Criminal Law Section

Current student

Enrolled in law school

Health Law Writing Competition

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.

Epstein Becker Green

J.D. and LL.M. degree candidates

Attend U.S. school

NYSBA Antitrust Law Section Student Writing Competition

Eligible papers may address any topic of general interest to the antitrust law community.

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Antitrust Law Section

Current J.D. or LL.M. student

Enrolled in New York State law school OR a New York State resident enrolled in law school outside of New York State

Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Student Writing Contest

To encourage and reward law student writings on real property, trust and estate law subjects of general and current interest.

American Bar Association (ABA) Real Property, Trust & Estate (RPTE) Section

Current law student in good standing

ABA-accredited school

U.S. Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident

Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Writing Competition

The goal of the Competition is to encourage law students to become involved in the Section. It is also intended to raise awareness of and foster dialogue regarding legal issues related to environmental, energy, and natural resources law and encourage scholarship in these fields.

American Bar Association (ABA) Environment, Energy, and Resources Section

Current law student

Enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school

Legal resident of the U.S.

At least 18 years old

Everytown Law Student Writing Competition

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.

Everytown Law

All submissions must be composed of original research and writing by currently enrolled law students at ABA accredited law schools.

Employees of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, its affiliated organizations, and immediate family or household members of such employees are not eligible for the Competition.

Law school notes and academic articles that you have submitted or you are planning to submit to law school reviews and journals for publication are eligible for submission.

Preferred submission length is 5,000 to 15,000 words, including footnotes, but may be as long as a law review note.

Energy Law Writing Competition

The goal of the Competition is to encourage law students to become involved in the Section. It is also intended to attract students to the energy law practice field, and to encourage scholarship in this field.

18 or older

The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship

The Award honors excellence in legal writing in American law schools.

Current J.D. or LL.B student

Enrolled in accredited law school in the U.S.

ACEBC Employee Benefits Writing Competition

The primary purposes of this writing competition are to encourage legal scholarship in areas of concern or interest in the employee benefits field and to foster interest in promising students in the practice of employee benefits law. 

The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, Inc.

Current law student.

Cornelius Vanderbroek Memorial Essay Competition For Graduate/"Older" Students (to age 30)

The competition is intended to reach out to and reward law students interested in protecting the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF)

graduate students through the age 30

North American College or University

Public Law Writing Competition

Articles must be on a topic related to public law - a field that covers areas such as administrative law, constitutional law, municipal law, open meetings/open records law, political/election law, education law, state and federal legislation, public employment and labor law, government contracts, government tort liability and regulations, land use/environmental issues, public law ethics, public finance, and water law.

California Lawyers Association (CLA) Public Law Section

Current J.D. student, enrolled in good standing at a California law school accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California OR a lawyer who has been practicing for 8 years or fewer

May not be offered this year - verify status with the scholarship provider

The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Writing Competition

Since 2005, the College has sponsored a writing competition for law students, to encourage them to learn about employee benefits.

The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (ACEBC)

Full-time or part-time law students

Seeking a J.D. or graduate law degree (LL.M./SJ.D.)

Selma Moidel Law Student Writing Competition in California Legal History

The Society sponsors the competition to promote research and writing on the California Supreme Court and the state's legal history.

California Supreme Court Historical Society

Open to students and recent graduates in history and/or law, provided that they did not have full-time academic employment at the time the paper was written

Georgetown Law Technology Review Student Writing Competition

Entries should explore ways in which emerging technologies and services interact with or challenge existing civil rights and consumer protection laws.

Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy

Enrolled at any ABA-accredited law school in the U.S.

NYSBA Environmental Law Section: Professor William R. Ginsberg Memorial Essay Contest

This annual competition is designed to challenge law students to analyze the environmental issues confronting us today.

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Environmental Law Section

Current J.D. and LL.M. candidates

Enrolled in a law school within New York State

H. Thomas Austern Writing Competition

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.

Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI)

2023-2024 academic year graduates

Papers must be unpublished

Virginia Bar Intellectual Property Law Student Writing Competition

The Intellectual Property Law Student Writing Competition (the “Competition”) seeks to promote academic debate and the dissemination of ideas and scholarly writing in the field of intellectual property.

Virginia State Bar (VSB) Intellectual Property Section

In good standing

Attend a law school in Virginia

Resident of Virginia attend law school outside the state

James B. Boskey Law Student Essay Contest

The purpose of the competition is to create greater interest in the field of dispute resolution among law students of the nation, particularly those who are members of the Law Student Division of the American Bar.

American Bar Association (ABA) Dispute Resolution Section

Current J.D. student

Full-time or part-time

Attend ABA-accredited law school

Age 21 or older

Adam A. Milani Writing Competition

The purpose of the competition is to promote greater interest in and understanding of the field of disability law and to encourage excellent legal writing skills in law students.

American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Disability Rights and Mercer University School of Law

Current law students

Attend law school in the U.S.

Full-time students who are not law students but who write law-related papers as part of a course at an American law school are also eligible

Annual Law Student Writing Competition

The College sponsors a Writing Competition for Law Students, in conjunction with the ABA's Section of Labor & Employment Lawyers. A distinguished panel of attorneys from around the country will review the submitted papers written on current and relevant topics of labor and employment law.

The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and American Bar Association (ABA) Labor and Employment Law Section

Attend accredited law school in the U.S.

Cannot have graduated before December

Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Award Competition

The goal of the Competition is to encourage law students to become involved in the Section, attract students to the administrative law practice fields, and to encourage scholarship in these fields.

American Bar Association (ABA) Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice Section

ABA-accredited law school

21 years old

Member of the ABA and Section on Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice

K. William Kolbe Writing Competition

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.

American Bar Association (ABA) Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section

Attend an ABA-accredited law school in U.S. and its possessions

Member of ABA Law Student Division (LSD)

May not be offered this year - verify status with the provider 

Mary Moers Wenig (MMW) Student Writing Competition

This Writing Competition was created to encourage and reward scholarly works in the area of trusts and estates.

The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) Foundation

Current J.D. or LL.M. Candidate

Attend ABA-accredited law school within the U.S. or its possessions

Warren E. Burger Prize

This writing competition is designed to promote scholarship in the areas of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence.

American Inns of Court

Judges, lawyers, professors, students, scholars, and other authors

The Flint Cooper Future Lawyers Scholarship

 Using personal experiences, values and goals, explain what motivated you to pursue a legal education. Your essay should be 500 words or less.

Flint Cooper

Enrolled in an American Bar Association (ABA)-accredited law school within the United States or its Territories.

18 years or older.

William W. Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition

The goal of the Competition is to encourage law students to become involved in the Section. It is also intended to attract students to the Criminal Justice practice field, and to encourage scholarship in this field. Each entrant must follow the rules of the competition detailed herein.

American Bar Association (ABA) Criminal Justice Section

Attend an ABA-accredited law school within the U.S. and its possessions

21 years of age

George Hutchinson Writing Competition

The Hutchinson Writing Contest Committee annually administers a writing competition in honor of our beloved George Hutchinson, who was the first Chief Clerk of the Federal Circuit.

Federal Circuit Bar Association (FCBA)

The Theodore Tannenwald Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship

Named for the late Tax Court Judge Theodore Tannenwald, Jr., and designed to perpetuate his dedication to legal scholarship of the highest quality, the Tannenwald Writing Competition is open to all full- or part-time law school students, undergraduate or graduate.

The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax and The American College of Tax Counsel

J.D., LL.M. or SJ.D.

Attend U.S. law school

Other non-law students enrolled in a U.S. law school tax course

Zimmerman Law Firm Scholarship for Law Students

Reflect on your "why".  For this scholarship, you will reflect on why you committed to law school and what you plan on doing with your Juris Doctorate once you graduate.

Zimmerman Law Firm

Enrolled or accepted into an ABA-accredited law school in the United States.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg "Pursuit of Justice" Legal Writing Competition

The Bar Association recognizes the importance of excellence in legal writing and seeks to award a student enrolled in an ABA-approved Philadelphia-area law school for authoring a top-quality competition submission.

Philadelphia Bar Association

Current 2nd or 3rd year law student

Full-time and part-time

Attend one of the following six institutions: Drexel University Thomas R. Kiline School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Rutgers Law School, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and Widener University Delaware Law School

NYSBA Business Law Section Student Writing Competition - Fall Issue

The Business Law Section sponsors an annual Student Writing Competition, 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.

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Business Law Section

Current J.D. or LL.M. candidate

Attend accredited law school

Corporate Governance Writing Competition

Established by the Ohio State Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section to explore relevant and innovative scholarly work from Ohio’s law students in one specific area of corporate governance challenges.

Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) Corporate Counsel Section

All students at ABA-accredited law schools in Ohio

2023 Beckley Student Writing Competition

The purposes of the competition are to promote greater interest in and understanding of the fields of securities arbitration and securities law and to encourage excellent legal writing skills in law students.

Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA)

Attend law school in U.S.

Full-time non-law students who write law-related papers as part of a course at an American law school

Law Student Writing Challenge

Students are asked to write a paper analyzing the tax-related issues in connection with a pre-selected question. The Taxation Section selects a questions in personal income taxation or ethical areas.

State Bar of Michigan (SBM) Taxation Section

Attend ABA-accredited law school that is located in the State of Michigan

2023 International Tax Student Writing Competition

The organization is sponsoring a writing competition on any topic relating to US taxation of income from international activities, including taxation under US tax treaties.

International Fiscal Association (USA Branch)

Graduate level student (J.D., LL.M., SJ.D., MST, MTA, MT or similar)

BPLA Writing Competition

Law school students are encouraged to submit papers relating to intellectual property law.

Boston Patent Law Association (BPLA)

Attend a law school (day or evening) within the jurisdiction of the First Federal Judiciary Circuit (Maine, Massachusetts, NH, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island) or prepared in connection with a course at a law school in the First Circuit

Public Contract Law Journal Writing Competition

Through our writing competition, the PCL Section introduces itself to the next generation of public contract lawyers.

American Bar Association (ABA) Public Contract Law (PCL) Section

Current J.D. students, who is 21 years old or over

Attend ABA-approved law school within the U.S. and its possessions

Current members in good standing of the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Section of Public Contract Law

Sarah Weddington Writing Prize

The Sarah Weddington Writing Prize seeks student scholarship exploring reproductive rights and justice issues in the U.S.

If/When/How, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice

Current J.D. or LL.M. law students

Recent graduates

American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers (ACCFSL) Writing Competition

The competition seeks to recognize written contributions to the field of U.S. consumer financial services law.

American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers

Albert S. Pergam International Law Writing Competition

The competition is intended to encourage students of law to write on areas of public or private international law.

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) International Law Section

J.D., LL.M., Ph.D. and SJ.D.

Dr. Emanuel Stein and Kenneth Stein Memorial Law Student Writing Competition

To recognize excellence among law school students writing in the area of labor and employment law; and to cultivate the relationship between the Section and future labor and employment practitioners.

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Labor and Employment Law Section

American Journal of Mediation National Dispute Resolution Writing Competition

The purpose of this competition is to heighten interest in, and competence related to, student writing on the subject of Alternate Dispute Resolution.

American Academy of Civil Trial Mediators (ACCTM)

Current North American J.D. and LL.M. candidates

The Dukemineier Awards Student Writing Competition

The Dukeminier Awards Student Writing Competition annually recognizes the best law review note written by a student in the field of sexual orientation and gender identity law.

Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law

Enrolled in a law school within the U.S. or its territories

Insurance Law Section State Bar of Texas Law Student Writing Competition

This competition is designed to encourage law students at eligible Texas schools to write scholarly papers on topics of interest relevant to insurance law.

State Bar of Texas Insurance Law Section

Attending specific Texas law schools

Armstrong Lee & Baker Law School Contest

This scholarship requires that you reflect on your purpose for entering the field of law.

Armstrong Lee & Baker

Enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school.

If you have applied to a law school and have not been accepted yet, you may apply for the scholarship, however,  the scholarship will be awarded to a student who has successfully enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school .

Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition

The Entertainment Law Initiative fosters future careers in entertainment law by seeking out the nation’s top law students and giving them invaluable networking and educational opportunities. The program includes a national legal writing competition.

The Recording Academy and Entertainment Law Initiative

U.S. law school

Phil Cowan - Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship

The Phil Cowan - Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship is named after two esteemed former EASL Chairs to recognize student who are committed to a practice concentrating in one or more areas of entertainment, art or sports law.

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section

Attend accredited law school within New York State, Rutgers University Law School and Seton Hall Law School in New Jersey, and up to ten other accredited law schools throughout the country to be selected, at the committee's discretion, on a rotating basis.

Law Student Writing Competition

The scope of permissible topics include any aspect of workers' compensation law.

The College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers

Enrolled in accredited law school in U.S.

2023 graduates

Louis Jackson Memorial National Student Writing Competition in Employment and Labor Law

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.

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law's Institute for Law and the Workplace (ILW) and Jackson Lewis LLP

Enrolled in an accredited law school

Must have completed or be currently taking course work in employment or labor law

Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition

Through this Writing Competition, AEF seeks to encourage legal scholarship on issues of importance to the Asian Pacific American community.

Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF)

Law school graduates within the last five years (i.e., 2019 or later)

In the U.S.

Future Lawyer Blog

Up for a challenge consider doing some essay competitions….

Tags: access to justice , essay competition , internship , legal profession , prize , property law , technology .

Wondering what else you can do to boost your application chances? Or just keen to write something that isn’t for university…? There are tons of opportunities to enter law essay competitions – where the prize can be monetary or opportunity-based. There’s a complete list on Learnmore but here’s a snapshot of some which are open for entries now…

vLex International Law & Technology Writing Competition

vLex’s International Law and Technology Writing Competition is now open for the fifth year in a row, with three new categories and a grand prize of £1,500. The competition welcomes students from around the world to showcase their writing skills for the chance to have their work published and shared internationally.   To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Law and Technology Writing Competition, they are focusing on the Past, Present and Future. I’ve been a judge for this competition for the past few years and it has been brilliant to see the ideas that emerge. The deadline is 1st December 2021.

Future Legal Mind Award

Also released is the Future Legal Mind Award .

Future Legal Mind, run by National Accident Law , is now in its eighth year. Previous winners of the competition have gone on to become solicitors and barristers, and to undertake other prestigious legal roles.

This year, the competition is split into two categories, offering one undergraduate law student and one postgraduate law student the chance to be named Future Legal Mind 2022.

The winners will each receive a £1,500 prize fund to support their career development. They will also be able to take part in mentoring with experienced lawyers and complete a work experience placement at National Accident Helpline’s law firm, National Accident Law.

Jonathan White, Legal Director of National Accident Helpline, said:

“This is a great opportunity for law students to share their understanding and insights for making valuable changes to the law. We continue to run Future Legal Mind as part of our aim to promote innovation in the sector and to help inspire new generations to build their careers in law. Seeing how our past winners and finalists have gone on to excel in their legal professions makes us extremely proud. We now look forward to finding the next, rising stars of tomorrow.”

The winner of Future Legal Mind 2021 was Elena Michael, who is studying for the Bar at BPP University in London. 

To enter Future Legal Mind 2022, students are invited to answer essay responses to the following questions: 

Undergraduates – Now that the UK has officially left the EU, what legal changes would you recommend making over the next ten years?  

Postgraduates – Is the UK court fit for purpose and what role should other, alternative forms of dispute resolution comprise?

Essays must be submitted by midnight on Friday 25th February 2022 and will be reviewed by a panel, who will whittle the entries down to a shortlist of five people in each category.

Those on the shortlist will each be asked to submit a smartphone video to support their written entry. The competition judges will review the essays and videos to decide who will be named Future Legal Mind 2022.

Property Bar Association Essay Competition

Open to students on the LLB, GDL or BPTC, the PBA competition asks you to write a 1,000 words on a question that will be released on 1st November (put the date in your diary). 1st prize is £1000 plus a coveted copy of Megarry and Wade: The Law of Real Property. You’ll also see your essay published in the Estates Gazette.

Deadline for entries is 6pm on 7th January 2022. Please take a look at the full rules via the PBA website.

The International Law Book Facility Essay Competition

New for this year! This competition is open to undergraduates and asks students to write 2000 words on the following topic:

Looking back from 2030 what should we do now to transform the legal profession (including by the use of machine learning technology) to ensure access to justice for all and that the profession is as diverse as the communities and businesses it serves.

The competition will be officially launched by The Rt Hon. the Lord Burnett of Maldon, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. There will then be a chance to participate in a live Q & A online before the deadline on 28 February 2022 at 4pm. See more details about the competition and get a view of the timeline via the ILBF website .

The winner will receive a week-long internship at international law firm Brown Rudnick’s London office with up to £500 travel expenses, as well as seeing their essay published in the IBA Litigation Committee newsletter and on the ILBF and Brown Rudnick websites.

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Writing Competitions for Law Students: Intellectual Property Law

• Introduction
• Resources for Competitors
• Administrative Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Business Law
• Civil Liberties Law
• Criminal Law
• Disability Law
• Environmental Law
• Health Care Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• International Law
• Labor & Employment Law
• Law & Technology
• Legal Ethics & Professionalism
• Military Law
• Native American Law
• Probate Law
• Public Interest Law
• Public Policy
• Sports & Entertainment Law
• Transportation Law
• Villanova Law Competitions

Intellectual Property Competitions

The Federal Circuit Bar Association’s George Hutchinson Writing Competition

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. 

New York Intellectual Property Law Association William C. Conner Intellectual Property Law Writing Competition

An entry must be directed to any of the following subject areas of intellectual property, i.e ., patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and unfair trade practices , as we ll as antitrust and data security/privacy issues to the extent they rela te to i ntellectual property .   Submit by February 25, 2024.

Pennsylvania Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section Writing Contest

The Intellectual Property Law Section Writing Contest was established to provide an opportunity for law students to express in writing their insight and knowledge in the areas of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets or trade dress. 

The American Association of Patent Judges Frederick E. McKelvey Writing Competitio n

Candidates shall submit essays concerning any subject relating to U.S. patent law. 

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• Last Updated: Feb 26, 2024 1:37 PM
• URL: https://libguides.law.villanova.edu/writingcompetitions

Writing Competitions for Law Students: Spring Semester (Jan. - May)

• Writing Resources
• Fall Semester (Sept. - Dec.)
• Spring Semester (Jan. - May)
• Summer (June - Aug.)
• Admiralty & Maritime Law
• Affordable Housing & Community Development Law
• Alcohol Regulation
• Antitrust Law, Consumer Protection Law & Data Privacy
• Armed Forces Law & National Security Law
• Aviation & Space Law
• Business Law
• Church/State Relations, Law & Religion
• Climate Accountability & Environmental Law
• Constitutional Law
• Construction Law
• Consumer Financial Services Law
• Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure & Criminal Justice Reform
• Disability Law & Rights
• Dispute Resolution
• Employee Benefits Law & Workers' Compensation
• Entertainment Law
• Gun Violence Prevention & Gun Safety
• Health Care Compliance & Health Law
• Human Rights
• Intellectual Property Law
• International Arbitration
• International Energy Negotiation
• International Insolvency
• International Law
• International Refugee Law
• International Trade Law & Customs Law
• Labor & Employment Law
• Law & Social Inquiry
• Law & Technology
• Law Affecting FDA-regulated Industries
• Law Librarianship
• Legal Ethics
• Legal History
• Legal Issues Concerning Indigenous Peoples
• Legal Malpractice Law & Lawyers' Professional Liability
• Legal Medicine
• Legal Scholarship on Issues of Importance to the Asian Pacific American Community
• Legal Short Fiction
• Pharmacy Law
• Planning & Law
• Public Contract Law
• Real Property Law
• Regulatory & Administrative Law
• Reproductive Rights & Justice (New Student Scholarship)
• Rule of Law
• Securities Arbitration & Securities Law
• Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Law
• Social Justice & Public Interest Law
• State & Local Government Law
• Trust & Estate Law
• Video Game Industry/Law
• Women & Law
• World Affairs
• Additional: Awards for Excellence in Legal Writing
• Additional: Opportunities for Law Students to Present Scholarly Work

Description

This page lists law student writing competitions by the deadline(s) established for each competition.

Competitions with Spring Semester (Jan. - May) Deadlines

International Law and Technology Writing Competition (annual) [note: there likely will be new "writing categories" in next year's competition]

• Deadline for "this year's" competition was: Jan 1, 2024.  Website states: "Follow vLex on social media to find out about next year's competition."

New York State Bar Association Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section: Phil Cowan – Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship

• Deadline for 2024 Annual Phil Cowan-Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship Writing Competition was: January 3 , 2024.

Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT) Student Note Submission and Competition

• Deadline for submission was: January 12, 2024.

American Bar Association State and Local Government Law Section: Writing Competition (annual) [any topic of state or local government law]

• Deadline for submission was: January 15, 2024. 

John F. Burton Jr. College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Law Student Writing Competition

• Deadline for submission was : January 15, 2024.

Louis Jackson Memorial National Student Writing Competition [employment law, labor law, employee benefits, or employment discrimination]

• Deadline to submit papers for the 2023–2024 competition was: January 16, 2024.

Rule of Law Writing Competition (annual)

• Deadline: The typical deadline for entries is January 31.

Sterne Kessler IP Law Writing Competition

• Deadline to submit entries for 2023 Competition was: January 31, 2024.

American Bar Association Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability and Long & Levit, LLP: Edward C. Mendrzycki Award: A Scholarly Writing Competition (annual) [contest encourages "scholarship and innovative research and writing in the area of legal malpractice law, professional liability insurance, and loss prevention."]

• Deadline for submission was: February 1, 2024. 

Center for Alcohol Policy National Writing Competition (annual) [state alcohol regulation]

• Deadline for submission was: February 1, 2024.

Family Law Writing Competition (annual)

• Deadline f or submission of entry forms was: February 1, 2024.   Deadline for submission of articles was: February 15, 2024 . 

Scribes Law Review Award [annual award for the best student-written article in a law review or journal]

Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition (annual) [ writing on issues concerning women and the law]

• Deadline: " Entries are due February 1 each year."

International Refugee Law Student Writing Competition (annual)

• Deadline for submission was: February 4, 2024.

Constance Baker Motley National Student Writing Competition (annual) [papers furthering and promoting a progressive vision of the Constitution, law, and public policy]

Deadline to apply was: Monday, February 5, 2024.

Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition on Regulatory and Administrative Law (annual)

• Deadline for submission was: February 5, 2024.

Human Rights Essay Award (annual)

• Eligibility requirements in 2024 included: "Must hold a law degree, Juris Doctor, (J.D.), Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), or equivalent."  "Shall have a demonstrated experience or interest in international human rights law." 
• Deadline for submission in 2024 was extended to: February 7, 2024.

Hirsh Student Writing Competition in Legal Medicine (annual)

• Deadline for submission was: February 8, 2024.  In future, check this website for information about a 2025 Competition.

American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section Consumer Protection Committee: Harvey Saferstein Consumer Protection Committee Student Essay Contest

• Deadline for submission in 2023-2024 Competition was: February 10, 2024.

Law Student Intellectual Property Legal Research and Brief Writing Competition (Litigation Focused)

• Deadline to declare an intent to participate in this competition was: February 15, 2024.

New York State Bar Association Business Law Section: Annual Student Writing Competition

• Requirements stated at website above include: "All submissions become the property of the NYSBA and the Business Law Journal . By submitting an article, the student is deemed to consent to its publication, whether or not a cash prize is awarded. To enter, the student should submit an original, unpublished manuscript in Word format to David L. Glass , editor in chief, NYSBA New York Business Law Journal ( [email protected] ).  The student should include a brief biography, including law school attended, degree for which the student is a candidate, and expected year of graduation."
• Deadline:  Submissions should be made by February 15 for the Spring issue of the New York Business Law Journal . 

Virginia Journal of International Law Essay Competition  - In future, check this website for announcements of future Essay Competitions.

• Deadline for submission in 2024 Winter Essay Competition was: Friday, February 16, 2024.

Law Student Patent Claims Drafting Competition (Patent Prosecution Focused)

• Deadline to declare an intent to participate in this competition was: February 22, 2024.

American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section: Robert Pitofsky Law Student Writing Competition [antitrust law, competition policy, and consumer protection law]

• Note: " The editor of the law school publication that published the entrant’s paper must complete and submit an official 2023-2024 Entry Form." 
• Deadline for the 2023-2024 Competition was: February 23, 2024.

David S. Rosenbaum Writing Competition [a legal issue relevant to the games industry]

• Deadline was: "Submissions open Sept. 25, 2023 - Feb. 25, 2024."

John D. Greenwald Writing Competition (annual) [international trade law]

• Deadline for submission was: February 25, 2024.

American Indian Law Review National Writing Competition ["Papers will be accepted on any legal issue specifically concerning American Indians or other indigenous peoples."]

• Deadline for 2023-2024 Competition was : February 29, 2024.

Dorothy E. Roberts Public Interest Essay Competition (annual) [articles on the topic of social justice and public interest law]

• Note: "In addition, the author must include a brief grant proposal for $5,000 to support public interest work related to the essay topic."
• Deadline for submission was: February 29, 2024, via the   online submission portal .

2024 IEL Hartrick Scholar Writing Competition [any topic related to energy development]

• Deadline for submission was: March 1, 2024.  

National Native American Law Students Association Writing Competition (annual)

• Registration: "This competition is ONLY open to law students who are registered members of the National Native American Law Students Association and members of their law school NALSA Chapter."  There are separate registration instructions for those writing on an environmental law issue and those writing on a non-environmental law issue. 
• Deadline was : March 1, 2024 .

New York State Bar Association Real Property Law Section: Annual Student Writing Competition

• Deadline: "Submissions must be made by no later than 11:59 PM Eastern Time on March 1 of each year." 

Sports Lawyers Association Student Writing Competition (annual)

• Deadline for submission was: March 1, 2024.

Honorable William C. Conner Writing Competition (annual) [intellectual property law]

• Deadline for submission was: March 3, 2024.

Diane and Stephen Uhl Memorial Essay Competition for Law School Students (also referred to as: First Amendment Scholars - Law Student Essay Competition )

• Deadline for entry was: March 15, 2024.

Hager Prize [Awarded for the best writing, either student or presenter, on the ICWA [ Indian Child Welfare Act] or any legal issue concerning Native American children]

• Deadline for submission was: March 15, 2024.

Law & Social Inquiry Graduate Student Paper Competition (annual)

• Deadline for submission was: "Entries will be accepted from January 1, 2024 until March 15, 2024 ."

Trandafir Writing Competition (annual) [world affairs]

• Deadline was: " Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems must receive all essays no later than March 17, 2024."
• Deadline for submission was: March 18, 2024 .

American Bar Association Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law: 2024 Affordable Housing & Community Development Law Student Legal Writing Competition

• Deadline for submission was: March 21, 2024.

2024 Prize in International Insolvency Studies [prize 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"]

• Deadline for submission was: March 31, 2024.

2023-2024 Robert T. Matsui Writing Competition (annual) [a legal topic of importance to the Asian Pacific American community]

Human Rights Essay Contest (annual) [international human rights law]

• Note: " The International Law Section sponsors this annual essay contest as part of its commitment to provide information and guidance on international human rights issues to Texas lawyers and law students. The contest is open to any law student with a personal or essay nexus to Texas (e.g. Texas law school, Texas resident, topic addressing Texas, etc.)."
• Deadline for submission was: April 1, 2024.

Berkeley Technology Law Journal 2024 Writing Competition

• Deadline for submission was: April 2, 2024 .

UNIDROIT Essay Competition

• Deadline for submission was: April 2, 202 4 .

American Bar Association Section of Family Law: Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest (annual) [family law]

• Deadline for submission of entry forms: " Your completed entry form must be received by 5:00pm CT Friday, April 5, 2024, so we may assign you a number. No submissions after 5:00pm CT April 5, 2024 will be accepted. "   Deadline for submission of entries: "All entries must be e-mailed on or before 5:00 pm CT Friday, April 19, 2024."

Church, State & Society Writing Competition (annual) [topics related to church-state relations, law and religion, and religious liberty]

• Deadline for submission was: April 12, 2024.

Erik Olin Wright Prize (annual) [social justice]

• Requirements: Student's paper + " A nominating letter from a faculty member familiar with the student’s work."
• Deadline for submission: " Submissions, in whole or in part, may be sent between March 1 and April 15 each year and should be sent to [email protected] .  Submissions received after April 15 will not be considered."

Smith-Doheny Legal Ethics Writing Competition

• Deadline for submission was: April 15, 2024.

LSCA/Center for Climate Integrity 2024 Writing Competition (annual)

• Deadline for submission was : April 19, 2024.

Annual Law Student Victims' Rights Writing Competition

• Deadline for submission was extended to: April 21, 2024.

American Bar Association Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee: 2024 Law Student Writing Competition  

• Deadline for submission was: April 30, 2024.

Nappert Essay Prize in International Arbitration ( biennial - this competition occurred in 2024)

• Deadline for submission was: April 30, 2024 .

AUWCL National Health Law Writing Competition (annual)

• Deadline: Submission portal opened on December 1, 2023 and closed on May 5 , 2024. 

Michael Greenberg Writing Competition [legal issues of interest to the LGBTQ+ community]

• Deadline: "Submissions open on January 1, 2024 and will close May 10, 2024 at 5:00pm Eastern Time."

Marshall M. Schulman Annual Competition for Student Papers in Criminal Law and/or Criminal Procedure  

• Deadline: "Papers submitted to the Marshall M. Schulman Student Writing Competition must be e-mailed no later than midnight, Sunday, May 12, 2024 ." 

AALL/LexisNexis Call for Papers Competition [any subject relevant to law librarianship]

• Deadline: "To be eligible for an award in the Student Division, papers and all required supporting documents must be received by May 15, 2024."

ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction

• Deadline: "Deadline for entries is 5 p.m. CDT May 15, 2024."

American Bar Association Business Law Section: Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest [business law]

• Deadline: "The ABA will accept entries from April 15, 2024, through midnight (CST) May 15, 2024, and will not consider any entry received after the due date and time."

Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition (annual) [legal history, rare law books, or legal archives]

• Deadline: "The entry package must be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m., May 15, 2024 (EDT) to [email protected] "

Health Law Writing Competition (annual)

• Deadline: " Submissions are due by May 17, 2024."

New York State Bar Association Antitrust Law Section Annual Law Student Writing Competition

• Deadline: "[S] ubmit an electronic copy of the paper, along with a completed Entry Form, by May 30, 2024."

American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER): Law Student Writing Competitions (5 competition topic categories)

• Deadline: "Entries must be submitted via email ... by Friday, May 31, 2024, 11:59 p.m. (central)."

American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law: 2024 Law Student Writing Contest

• Deadline: "No later than May 31, 2024, 11:59 pm Central Time."

Everytown Law Fund Law Student Writing Competition [gun violence prevention & gun safety]

• Deadline: "All submissions must be received by Friday, May 31, 2024, midnight EST."

Irish Legal History Society Student Essay Competition

• Deadline: "Essays should be received no later than 31st May 2024."

Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation Annual Brown Award

• Award Description: " The Award honors excellence in legal writing in American law schools. Any law student currently enrolled in an accredited law school in the United States seeking a J.D. or LL.B degree is eligible to submit a paper for the Award."

Requirement: "The article must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a law school faculty member or legal professional other than the author of the paper. "

Deadline: "The submission must be postmarked no later than May 31, 2024."

National Security Law Writing Competition

• Last known deadline for submissions was: May 31, 2023.   February 23, 2024: Sent email to the Air Force Judge Advocate General's School to try to obtain information about a possible 2024 National Security Law Writing Competition. 
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• URL: https://guides.brooklaw.edu/writing_competitions

Law Student Writing Competitions: Writing Competitions

• Writing Competitions
• Other Links

Current/Upcoming Competitions

Competitions listed here are in order by submission deadline.  Click the links below for more specific details about each competition. 

• 2024 Prize in International Insolvency Studies Sponsor: International Insolvency Institute (III) Submission Deadline: March 31, 2024 Topic: The article or research must be on an international or comparative insolvency topic.
• Berkeley Technology Law Journal Writing Competition 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.
• Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest Sponsor: Law Student Division of the American Bar Association Submission Deadline: April 5, 2024 Topic: Original essays on any aspect of family law.
• The Program on Church, State & Society Writing Competition Sponsor: The Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School Submission Deadline: April 12, 2024 Topic: Papers should be focused, broadly, on topics related to church-state relations, law and religion, and religious liberty.
• Smith-Doheny Legal Ethics Writing Competition Sponsor: Notre Dame Law School Submission Deadline: April 15, 2024 Topic: Entries should concern any issue within the general category of legal ethics.
• Scholarship Contest from Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor & Vega 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.
• The Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee Writing Competition 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.
• The Ninth Annual AUWCL National Health Law Writing Competition 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.
• Health Law Writing Competition 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.
• Annual Law Student Writing Competition 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.
• 2024 Law Student Writing Competition 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.
• SEER Writing Competition 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.
• The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship 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.

Past Competitions - 2024

• John F. Burton Jr. Law Student Writing 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.
• Louis Jackson Memorial National Student Writing Competition 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.
• Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition 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.
• Litigation Section Writing Award 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.
• Rule of Law Writing Competition 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.
• Edward C. Mendrzycki Award 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.
• Scribes Law Review Award Sponsor: Scribes — The American Society of Legal Writers Submission Deadline: February 1, 2024 Topic: The topic should be timely and interesting.
• Center for Alcohol Policy National Essay Contest 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.
• Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition 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.
• Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest 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.
• Harvey Saferstein Consumer Protection Committee Student Essay Contest 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.
• Robert Pitofsky Law Student Writing Competition 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.
• Honorable William C. Conner Writing Competition 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.
• American Indian Law Review National Writing Competition 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.
• The Blanch Law Firm Scholarship Award 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.
• NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund Law Student Research and Writing Competition 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.
• Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition 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).
• The Program on Church, State & Society Writing Competition 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.
• The Roy Snell Health Care Regulatory & Compliance Writing Competition 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.
• 2024 Diane and Stephen Uhl Memorial Essay Competition for Law School Students Sponsor: The Freedom From Religion Foundation Submission Deadline: March 15, 2024 Topic: If you could create a 28th Amendment what would it be?
• Law & Social Inquiry Graduate Student Paper Competition Sponsor: American Bar Foundation Submission Deadline: March 15, 2024 Topic: Papers must be on topics within the field of law and social science.
• Trandafir Writing Competition 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.

Past Competitions - 2023

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?

Past Competitions - 2022

• NYSBA Business Law Section Student Writing Competition 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.
• Corporate Governance Writing Competition 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.
• 2022 Beckley Student Writing Competition 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.
• 2022 International Tax Student Writing Competition 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.
• Public Contract Law Journal Writing Competition 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.
• Albert S. Pergam International Law Writing Competition 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.
• Law Student Patent Claims Drafting Competition 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.
• Law Student Writing Contest of the Standing Committee on Armed Forces Law (SCAFL) 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.
• Law Student Tax Challenge 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.
• American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers (ACCFSL) Writing Competition 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.
• The Dukemineier Awards Student Writing Competition 2022 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.
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• Student Legal Writing Competitions - January 2024
• October 6, 2023
• Announcements

The following are writing competitions to which law students may be eligible to submit their writings. For future writing competition deadlines and competitions by subject, see the Library’s  Student Legal Writing Competitions Guide .

Grammy Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Student Writing Competition "The Recording Academy®, in concert with some of the nation’s most prominent entertainment attorneys, established the Entertainment Law Initiative to promote discussion and debate about the most compelling legal issues facing the music industry today." Deadline: January 3, 2023

New York State Bar Association Phil Cowan – Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship Law students, take note of this publishing and scholarship opportunity: The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (EASL)’s Phil Cowan – Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship, named after two esteemed former EASL Chairs, offers up to two awards of $2,500 each on an annual basis in Phil Cowan’s and Judith Bresler’s memories to law students who are committed to a practice concentrating in one or more areas of entertainment, art or sports law. Deadline: January 3, 2023

Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict Richard R. Baxter Military Prize "Since 2007, the Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict, an interest group of the American Society of International Law, has annually recognized a paper that significantly enhances the understanding and implementation of the law of war. The Richard R. Baxter Military Prize is awarded for exceptional writing in English by an active member of the regular or reserve armed forces, regardless of nationality." Deadline: January 6, 2023

American Society of International Law Francis Lieber Prize for Outstanding Publications in the Law of Armed Conflict "The American Society of International Law’s Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict awards the Francis Lieber Prize to the authors of publications that the judges consider to be outstanding in the field of law and armed conflict." Deadline: January 6, 2023

The Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition Submissions should address a legal topic of importance to the Asian Pacific American community. Deadline: January 12, 2023 at 11:59pm (EST). Annual competition.

New York Intellectual Property Law Association Honorable William Conner Writing Competition "An entry must be directed to any of the following subject areas related to intellectual property, i.e., patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair trade practices, antitrust, and data security/privacy issues. Annual. Deadline: January 12, 2023

University of Pennsylvania Law Review Annual Public Interest Essay Competition "Submissions must focus on a specific legal issue within the realm of public interest law, including any issue relating to social justice or advancing the general welfare and good of the public. In addition, the author must include a brief grant proposal for $5,000 to support public interest work related to the essay topic. We encourage topics that are national in breadth or impact, rather than state-limited, but this is not required." Deadline: January 15, 2023. Annual competition.

International Refugee Law Student Writing Competition "Papers may address any topic related to international law and refugees, stateless persons, internally-displaced persons (IDPs), and/or forced migrants." Deadline: January 15, 2023

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

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Winner of the 2020 IP Law Student Essay Competition

• July 24, 2020

Reforming Canada’s Intellectual Property Laws: the Slow Path to Reconciliation

Adam Lakusta (University of Manitoba – Faculty of Law)

(disponible uniquement en anglais)

"We need to get to a place where Indigenous peoples in Canada are in control of their own destiny, making their own decisions about their future." 1 – Justin Trudeau, 14 February 2018

Part 1. Introduction

Although seemingly well-intentioned, this statement by Canada’s Prime Minister may be seen as political puffery to many Indigenous people. While Canada prides itself on its cultural diversity, it is stained by its historic mistreatment of Indigenous peoples. 2 In fact, the Canadian conditions for Indigenous peoples have recently been described as imposing “intersectional systems of oppression”, with marginalization that continues to this day. 3 In 2016, it was reported that 1,673,785 (or 4.9%) Canadians were Indigenous (meaning First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples). 4 With nearly 5% of Canadians identifying as Indigenous, the new insights of the breadth of systemic discrimination reported by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls come as a damning assessment of Canadian cultural diversity. 5 While complex, much of the discrimination faced today by Indigenous people occurs along socioeconomic lines. 6 Legally, one thing that the Government of Canada can do to prevent this discrimination is to reform the way Canadian laws recognize Indigenous Intellectual Property (IP).

The main form of Indigenous IP is Traditional Knowledge (TK). While there is no universally accepted definition of TK, it can be broadly understood as the knowledge, skills, and practices that are passed down through the generations of a community that forms part of the community’s culture and spirituality. 7 As TK is an integral part of Indigenous culture, the IP associated with it is held collectively, rather than individually. Despite the importance of TK to Indigenous cultures, the international IP regime fails to recognize the collective ownership of Indigenous IP rights. Thus, in order to properly accommodate the needs of Indigenous peoples, broad legislative change is required.

As the Canadian Government has committed to the goal of achieving reconciliation with its Indigenous peoples, amending Canadian IP laws to accommodate TK is an important step towards this goal. Through the proper regulation of IP, it may be possible to address the ongoing socioeconomic discrimination against Indigenous peoples. By extending more protection to TK, Indigenous groups would be empowered to determine how their IP is used, as well as to choose whether to commercialize it. In turn, this would function to promote the economic wellbeing of Indigenous peoples, while enabling them to retain control over their respective cultures.

Canadian reform can be achieved by two means: the amendment of existing legislation, or by establishing, as some countries have, sui generis systems for TK. 8 While not excluding the success of any prospective international sui generis treatment of TK, it is deserving of a more thorough analysis than can be offered in the present article. This paper begins by defining the international issue of appropriation and biopiracy, describing the differing conceptions of property, and by examining Canada’s international obligations to respect TK. Having established Canada’s international obligations, two examples of cultural appropriation in Canada are given. A comparative analysis is then performed between Canadian policies and select policies from New Zealand and India with respect to IP. This paper concludes by proposing that, towards reconciliation and its stated goals in international agreements, Canada can both incorporate principles from its international obligations into domestic law, and look to other states, such as New Zealand and India, as models to mold its IP policy and legislation after.

Defining the Problem

The problem of commercial appropriation attracted the international spotlight, perhaps most notoriously, in a case involving the San people of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. 9 For thousands of years, the San people knew of the appetite-suppressant qualities of the Hoodia cactus. 10 In the 1990s, this quality caught the attention of researchers in the South African Government, as well as the pharmaceutical industry. The compound responsible for the appetite-suppressant effects, termed “P57”, was patented by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1998. 11 CSIR then gave the exclusive license to test, develop, and commercialize P57 to Pfizer, and then to Phytopharm. 12 Upon hearing about the traditional origin of P57, various organizations criticized CSIR for failing to acknowledge or compensate the San people for their TK, as this was contrary to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – a convention to which South Africa was (and is) a signatory. 13 As a result of this controversy, the San people were eventually able to negotiate an Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) 14 agreement in 2003. 15 While this case had a relatively positive outcome, the UN estimates that over 70 percent of global therapeutic plant-derived drugs are brought to the attention of pharmaceutical companies through TK in a process called ‘bioprospecting’. 16 Bioprospecting involves the search for biological resources and its associated TK with a goal of exploiting its economic value. 17 The use of bioprospecting to guide drug screening can increase its efficiency by more than 400 percent, and in 2008, the market for drugs discovered through this method was estimated to be $43 billion (USD). 18 The use of this process, if done without a fair agreement between parties (i.e. the resource user and the source nation), has been termed ‘biopiracy’. 19

The global IP regime has been accused of facilitating the process of biopiracy and other forms of cultural appropriation. 20 This regime, while being an attempt to encourage and protect useful innovations, is limited by its failure to acknowledge group authorship and equitably reward the TK-holders associated with such innovations. 21 This problem is not solely related to TK, but can also be extended to open-source software, and in the future, works generated by artificial intelligence. 22 Whereas questions relating to TK and group authorship are not new to the global IP regime, these issues become more pressing as technology evolves and globalization continues. To get at the issue of group IP rights, it is essential that states first acknowledge that there are differing conceptions about the nature of property, and that these need to be accommodated within the frameworks regulating IP.

Different Conceptions of Property

Although seemingly simple, the concept of property is contextual and differs based on the people defining it. At the highest level, property has been described as a set of practices that signify social relationships that bear directly on how we behave with one another and the world at large. 23 As a result of the widespread effects of colonization, the dominant view of property is derived from the colonial perspective. The colonial conception of property has been described as a collection of rights over things that are enforceable against others. 24 This view contrasts greatly with certain Indigenous conceptions of property ownership. Perhaps contrary to popular opinion, it is not the case that Indigenous people necessarily believe in collective property rights; however, this is the result arrived at by applying colonial conceptions of property ownership to those of Indigenous peoples. 25 For many Indigenous people, the concept of property is more intangible and entangled with their personality, spirituality, and family lineage. 26 To some, they believe their relationship with the environment is one akin to stewardship. 27 As stewards, they believe they are part of the natural world, but in a position of trust, and are tasked with selecting resources and how they should be used. Conversely, some Indigenous groups, such as the Mohawks, harbour a similar conception of property as the West. The Mohawk’s have traditionally had a territory that belongs to them collectively to the exclusion of outsiders, although possessing ‘softer’ property rights between individual Mohawk families. 28 Thus, it is an unwarranted simplification to state that all Indigenous people believe in collective property ownership. Each Indigenous group has their own unique understanding of property, and attention must be paid to the specific origins of these conceptions to fully appreciate and accommodate them.

While the many property beliefs amongst Indigenous groups does not lend itself to being easily reconciled with the Canadian system of property, we can turn to various international instruments and similarly situated countries as models in order to design our own reconciliatory laws and policies.

Canada’s International Obligations

Over the course of the last three decades, the international community has attempted to implement various instruments that target ABS and collective IP rights. As denoted by the CBD, ABS refers to the way genetic resources are accessed, as well as how the benefits arising from their use are shared between the users and providers of the genetic resources. 29 Although many countries have signed on to these initiatives, there remain a handful of countries that have been against these initiatives. Canada remains a part of this handful of countries that has not contributed enough to these international efforts. 30

The Convention on Biological Diversity

The CBD is a legally binding instrument that was made with the stated objectives to forward the causes of “[conserving] biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.” 31 It was opened for signing on 5 June 1992. Canada signed this multilateral treaty on 11 June 1992 and ratified it on December 4 th of the same year. Along with Canada, 192 countries have become parties to the CBD. It is important to note that, despite being a legally binding treaty, the CBD has been described as, “a process by which its Parties agree to take certain actions at the national level.” 32 It thus represents an existing and future commitment to change policies and behaviours in accordance with the principles embodied in the Convention.

Access and Benefit Sharing in the CBD

The functional provisions of the CBD, in terms of ABS, are articles 8 – In-situ Conservation, and 15 – Access to Genetic Resources. These articles provide that Canada shall:

[R]espect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge innovations and practices. 33

As well as:

[Share] in a fair and equitable way the results of research and development and the benefits arising from the commercial and other utilization of genetic resources with the Contracting Party providing such resources. Such sharing shall be upon mutually agreed terms. 34

In essence, not only do these provisions establish Canada’s legal obligation to maintain and promote TK, but they establish that Canada must encourage ABS arising from their use. By 2020, Canada plans to “promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.” 35 Additionally, in its Biodiversity Outcomes Framework, Canada has also made it a priority by 2020 to respect and promote Indigenous TK. 36

Despite these commitments, it is unclear as to whether Canada will in fact meet its stated goals by 2020, as it has failed to meet its previous deadline of 2015, while having little reported effort towards ABS in the past. 37 Almost three decades after ratifying the CBD, Canada has yet to make any substantive steps towards implementing a Federal system for ABS.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

On 13 September 2007, 144 nations adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Despite the vast international support enjoyed by UNDRIP, Canada was among four nations globally that voted against its adoption. After broad international criticism, Canada finally endorsed UNDRIP in 2010 with heavy qualifications regarding the articles concerning prior informed consent, land and resource rights, and IP. 38 Only with a change of government did Canada finally endorse UNDRIP without qualification in May 2016. 39

Although UNDRIP is not legally binding, Article 31 provides that:

Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions [emphasis added]. 40

Most important for the purposes of this article, through its unqualified endorsement of UNDRIP, Canada acknowledged the broad IP rights of Indigenous peoples to their TK and genetic resources, and in so doing created a politically binding obligation. Such agreements, if broken, have the ability to greatly undermine international credibility, thereby affecting a state’s ability to make international agreements in the future.

The Nagoya Protocol

While Canada’s UNDRIP narrative was unfolding, negotiations for the Nagoya Protocol (NP) were taking place. Completed in 2010, the NP is a supplementary agreement to the CBD aimed at promoting ABS. As the commitments within the CBD were quite broad, the NP adds clarity and provides a “strong basis for greater legal certainty and transparency for both providers and users of genetic resources.” 41 Further, the protocol lays out specific obligations for both compliance with domestic policies of resource providers, and compliance with contractual obligations. 42 As Canada is a party to the CBD, it took an active role in negotiating the formation of the NP. The positions taken by Canada were often difficult, and in a 2005 report, Canada took issue with the draft protocol having a definition for TK, as well as fundamentally disagreeing with the distinction between users and providers of genetic resources. 43 Additionally, Canada opposed a reference to UNDRIP in the preamble of the NP – a position which Canada conceded after international criticism. 44

In the end, it came as no surprise that Canada did not sign the Protocol. While Canada’s reluctance to implement the NP may show its lack of desire for an internationally structured ABS system, it must be noted that the NP is supplemental to the CBD, and so not signing it does not absolve Canada of its legal obligations. Despite not having signed the NP, Canada’s official position is that it can accede to the NP at any point, and that it has been “engaging with interested stakeholders” (including Indigenous peoples) on the matter. 45 Canada is therefore in a position where it can choose to adopt the NP in short order.  

Part 2. Appropriation in Canada

Although there are many cases involving the appropriation TK, this article details two examples of appropriation in Canada that underscore the lack of protection afforded by Canadian legislation. [46] As of yet, there have been no documented instances of biopiracy in Canada; however, given the extensive amount of bioprospecting (particularly in the Arctic and along Canada’s coastlines), there is a tangible risk of biopiracy occurring in the near future. 47

The Cowichan Sweater Case

In 2009-2010, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) produced mass-manufactured Chinese-made sweaters as part of their series of official merchandise for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This seemingly innocuous product was the cause of great controversy, as the Cowichan Tribes, an Indigenous group from Vancouver Island, alleged the misappropriation of their traditional designs.

Whether the HBC sweater was a knockoff of the more expensive Cowichan sweater is the subject of contention; however, there are striking similarities between the two designs. The woolen sweaters made by both the HBC and the Cowichan knitters were each seamless, had shawl collars, and used natural wool tones such as white, black, brown, and grey. 48 In addition to these features, each had horizontal bands and symmetrical animal patterns on the front. 49

In 2009, after having a lawsuit filed against them by the Cowichan, HBC came to an agreement where they would sell the handcrafted authentic sweaters exclusively in their downtown Vancouver store during the Olympics. 50 Despite this result, HBC continued to sell the mass-manufactured sweaters alongside the authentic sweaters, and due to the short notice, the Cowichan knitters were not able to produce enough sweaters to satisfy the demand. 51 In further injury to the Cowichan people, HBC produced a similar sweater as part of their 2012 London Summer Olympics series, and in 2015, fashion giant Ralph Lauren introduced a Cowichan knockoff sweater of their own. 52 After threatening litigation and gaining some bad press coverage, Ralph Lauren and the Cowichan appear to have come to an undisclosed agreement, and the sweater is now branded as a “Cowichan-inspired zip sweater.” 53

The Amauti Case

Another example highlighting the threat of cultural exploitation relates to Canada’s Inuit. Various pieces of Inuit cultural property have been appropriated in the past without acknowledgement or compensation towards its creators. A few infamous examples include the parka, kayak, and the kamik – a style of boot taken from the Inuit which has been marketed using an inukshuk as a trademark. 54 Other than these notorious examples, there is the amauti – a parka-like jacket that is traditionally made out of materials including sealskin and caribou hide. 55 The amauti is unique in that, among other features, it is designed with a distinctive pouch on the back to place infants to protect them from frostbite. 56

In 1995, the Pauktuutit Inuit Women’s Association (Pauktuutit) showed some of its traditional works as part of Ottawa’s Winterlude festival, as well as at a fashion show at Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition. 57 Following these shows and the growing Southern interest for Inuit designs, Donna Karan, a fashion designer and founder of the brand DKNY, sent representatives up to the Arctic in 1999 to buy clothing, including amautis. 58 Upon hearing about this, Pauktuutit began a successful letter-writing campaign to Donna Karan in effort to stop the appropriation of the amauti and other Inuit articles. Though the campaign ended in success, it illustrated the risk of misappropriation their culture was exposed to without proper IP protections. This misappropriation was realized in a 2015 London fashion show that showcased Inuit designs without permission. 59

While the amauti and other elements of Inuit culture are claimed collectively by all Inuit, as it stands in Canada, the system for IP is geared towards commercial and economic rights over privately owned IP. 60 In this system, the group ownership claimed by the Inuit is effectively placed into the public domain. This was further evidenced when Canada’s Federal Department of Industry expressed the view that there is no sui generis IP system for protection of TK, and that “other aspects of folkloric expressions [not protected by the current IP system] are available without restrictions and thus serve to enrich the fabric of Canada’s multicultural society.” 61 Although this position was stated in 2002, it does not appear to have changed. 62

As demonstrated by the forgoing examples, the sustained lack of respect for TK highlights the need for legislative intervention. The exploiters, in this case HBC, and various fashion designers, show no sign of stopping their cultural appropriation. Absent legislation barring the exploitation of cultural products, Indigenous groups are left without legal footing to defend against exploitation, and having to rely on damaging media campaigns to hold exploiters accountable.

Part 3. Jurisdictional Comparison

Canadian ip law and traditional knowledge.

As Canadian IP laws have been styled to conform to our major trading partners, the laws retain a highly Westernized (colonial) conception of property. Despite facilitating most transactions, as demonstrated above, they have failed to accommodate TK. 63

Among the various forms of IP protection, patents offer the most robust and exclusive form of protection by granting a commercial monopoly lasting twenty years. To attain a patent, an invention must be non-obvious, new, and useful. 64 This definition is similar to other patenting regimes in states such as the US, England, and New Zealand. 65 Much TK is non-obvious and useful; however, because it is often not ‘new’ in the legislative sense, it does not qualify as an invention.

Despite the power patents have in the market, Indigenous peoples have enjoyed little use of them. 66 Indigenous people, who often lack the resources required to attain patents, may instead choose to share their TK with companies and establish ABS agreements. 67

Copyright has been used extensively by Indigenous performers, artists, and makers to cover items ranging from sculptures, sound recordings, totem poles, and architectural drawings. 68 Even as copyright is used by Indigenous people, it fails to meet fundamental Indigenous needs due to it protecting the expression of ideas and not the ideas themselves. 69 As TK is often expressed informally, it generally would not be eligible for copyright protection. Even if TK and folklore were eligible for copyright protection, it has been reported that Indigenous peoples would like a degree of control over the appropriation of their TK, and not simply a limited protection. 70 Many forms of TK have existed for thousands of years and have become an integral part of Indigenous culture. Owing to this fact, the fifty years of protection currently offered by Canadian copyright law is insufficient. Additionally, if TK is first published by a non-Indigenous person who receives copyright protection, then there is a risk that Indigenous people would lose control of their culture. 71 In this way, the demands and limitations of the current Canadian copyright system frustrate the protection of TK and leave it vulnerable to exploitation.

Issues of cultural appropriation fare slightly better under trademark law in Canada. Collectives composed of Indigenous artisans may apply for a trademark. These trademarks can be renewed indefinitely, and can cover words as well as images, or any such combination. While this does not bar companies from developing similar products, it would allow the public to know where the product was made and function as a means of distinction with unauthentic competitors. Further, by virtue of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property , trademarks registered in Canada are given priority registration in other signatory states. 72

Another form of protection stems from the fact that the Trademarks Act was largely a codification of the existing Common Law in 1868. As such, additional protections may be afforded to Indigenous peoples without having the need to register their trademarks – they would have a common law right to the marks by virtue of their historic use. 73 This could prove useful for Indigenous terms and imagery, which, if these cultural symbols were all to be registered as trademarks, would be prohibitively expensive. 74 As long as there are consistent marks on the products which indicate “the kind, quality, quantity, destination, value, place of origin or date of production of any goods or services [during trade]” 75 , there may exist a right to the mark by virtue of the common law. Anyone who attempted to use the mark in Canada would be subject to an action for the tort of passing off, as confusion would be a likely consequence of the sale or advertisement using the same mark. 76

Finally, there is a provision within the Trademarks Act that allows for the registration of official marks. 77 This form of protection could most likely extend to Indigenous groups created through self-government agreements. 78 It has seen previous success through the use of the Igloo mark – denoting authentic Inuit artwork. 79 In addition to its potential for commercial success, it has been suggested that the non-commercial nature and differing criteria that apply to official marks would be more suitable to certain Indigenous groups, as not all groups would want to commercialize their marks. 80

In conclusion, the Trademarks Act offers the strongest form of protection available for TK. This is due to the fact that most forms of TK are not novel enough to be patented, and copyright only applies for a limited period of time and provides insufficient coverage of ideas. Despite its relative strength, trademarks and official marks still afford TK an inadequate level of protection. The use of marks can only ever function to distinguish Indigenous products as being authentic, but do not provide the ability to control the appropriation of TK.

Given the lackluster protection afforded to Indigenous culture in Canada, it is useful to turn to similarly situated countries to analyze how they have attempted to reconcile TK with their IP systems.

New Zealand’s IP Regime

As a consequence of Canada and New Zealand being colonized by Britain, they each have a shared legal base and minority Indigenous populations. 81 New Zealand’s colonization was soon followed by the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 – a treaty codified under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. 82 The Act created a permanent commission called the Waitangi Tribunal to analyze claims brought by the Māori, provide recommendations, and to analyze whether proposed legislation is contrary to the Treaty of Waitangi. 83 The recommendations of the Tribunal have had a major impact on New Zealand’s legislation, and so despite sharing similar colonial origins with Canada, the past decades have seen New Zealand pass progressive legislation aimed at accommodating Māori concerns.

In 2002, New Zealand overhauled its Trade Marks Act. 84 Although this bill was slated to be passed in 1995, the legislation was delayed due to Māori objections. 85 In the end, the Act effectively stopped the registering of trademarks that would be “likely to offend a significant section of the community, including Māori.” 86 Further, the Act makes offense, or likelihood thereof, grounds for opposition and revocation of a trademark. 87 This Act also established the Trademarks Māori Advisory Committee which is composed of members possessing sufficient knowledge of the Māori worldview, protocol, and culture. 88 The work done by this committee is to provide advice as to whether an application contains marks that are derivative of Māori marks, as well as to comment on whether they believe the mark would be likely to offend Māori people. 89

In 2013, an amendment to the NZ Patents Act established the Patents Māori Advisory Committee – a measure taken in response to the Wai 262 Report. 90 Similar to the Trademarks Māori Advisory Committee, this committee is composed of members who have sufficient knowledge of Māori culture. The committee’s purpose is to advise the Commissioner about whether an invention is derivative of Māori TK (including plants and animals), as well as to provide insights as to whether inventions are contrary to Māori values. 91 Although the committee can advise the Commissioner with respect to patentability, it is important to note that this advice is not binding on the Commissioner. 92 This system of nonbinding advice represents a kind of ‘halfway-house’ solution, in that it alerts the Commissioner, but does not hold determinative power over applications. While New Zealand did establish the Patent Advisory Committee in response to the Wai 262 Report, the report suggests that the Commissioner be “required” to take advice and work with the committee when making determinations about patents. 93 As it stands in the NZ Patents Act, the advisory committee is reactionary, as well as unable to make binding decisions on patentability – two points the Wai 262 Report specifically advised against. 94

Additional recommendations contained in the Wai 262 Report include: making Māori culture a key factor relating to inventiveness, establishing a register of Māori cultural interests to help inform the commissioner on patentability, and requiring patent applicants to declare if Māori cultural interests have contributed to the invention. 95 While the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office offers guidelines on identifying Māori trademarks, there has been no establishment of an official register. 96 For an example of a highly detailed and successful TK database, Canada can turn to India.

In 2001, India began the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) project. 97 It contains publicly available TK relating to over 200,000 medicinal uses for plants. 98 The reasons for establishing the TKDL were to prevent the granting of patents where there has been little or no inventive step, as well as to provide patent examiners access to knowledge held in India that had formerly only been available in Indian languages. 99 Since the inception of the TKDL, the registry has come to agreements with multiple patent offices located in Germany, Canada, the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Chile, Japan, as well as the European Patent Office. 100 These offices, as a result of gaining access to the TKDL, are now in a position to more readily identify dubious patent claims. This process helps the patent examiners, applicants, and prospective litigants by greatly decreasing both the time and costs needed to resolve disputes. 101 Additionally, having an international database such as the TKDL has caused an increase in awareness of Indian TK, thereby helping to guard against appropriation and biopiracy. 102

Part 4. Implementing ABS in Canada

In the last decade, all forms of Canadian government have become increasingly engaged in modern treaties, self-government, and wildlife management agreements with Indigenous peoples. 103 Through such agreements, not only are Indigenous people gaining political power, but it demonstrates the growing Canadian will to respect Indigenous sovereignty and rights. Further, Indigenous leaders from all over Canada are now meeting to make their ABS concerns known through instruments such as the Iskenisk Declaration and Petkoutkoyek Statement. 104 These agreements between Indigenous peoples were created for the purpose of endorsing the CBD and NP, as well as providing further guidance to Canadian governments. If Canada is serious about implementing a Federal ABS system by 2020, there is a need for it to act quickly or else risk lapsing on yet another commitment it has made under the CBD.

Importing from Canada’s International Obligations

In its national reports for the CBD, Canada has consistently underperformed with respect to its implementation of ABS. Between the Fifth and Sixth reports, however, several significant changes occurred: the election of a new government with a progressive agenda, including the announcement of massive investment in IP legislation, UNDRIP was endorsed by Canada without qualification, and a deadline of 2020 was set in the Sixth Report for the CBD to implement ABS with respect to genetic resources. 105

Further, there has been a marked change in tone, from evasive and confrontational, to constructive in the Canadian CBD reports. For example, contrast the following statements in Canada’s Second Report with a statement from its Sixth:

Has your country taken measures to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of the results of research and development and the benefits arising from the commercial and other use of genetic resources with any Contracting Party providing such resources (15(7))? ( Canada’s Response ): A poor question, because only part of Art.15.7 is being referenced.

Note that when Canada was deciding in 1993 whether we should ratify the CBD or not, a legal opinion stated that we were already in conformity with its obligations. It would not be consistent now to state that we were not implementing this provision. Canada consistently pays its quota to [Global Environment Facility], which is the financial mechanism cited in Art.15.7. 106

Meanwhile, in a response to a question about the NP, Canada’s Sixth Report states:

Canada supports the objectives of both the Convention and the Nagoya Protocol, recognizing the significant role that access and benefit sharing plays in the Convention. […] As part of this process, the Government of Canada has been engaging Canadian provinces, territories, Indigenous communities and stakeholders to provide them with an opportunity to consider possible elements of a domestic access and benefit sharing policy and contribute to an increased understanding of the potential implications should Canada decide to accede to the Nagoya Protocol. 107

Comparing the tones between the Second and Sixth reports, it is clear that Canada’s position is no longer confrontational. With Canada’s recently adopted constructive approach, taken together with the above-mentioned developments, Canada must seize on its current momentum and take legislative action. This action may come in the form of its accession to the NP, or the enactment of ABS legislation. As an original CBD leader that participated heavily in the Convention’s inclusion of its ABS-focused Article 8(j), it is incumbent upon Canada as a matter of international credibility to either accede to the NP or adopt similar guidelines into its domestic legislation. [108]

IP Reform in Canada

To facilitate the adoption of ABS in Canada, IP legislation must be overhauled. To date, and even with the newly updated Trademarks Act , there has been a complete lack of effort to accommodate TK through domestic law. There is an urgent need for new legislation to allow for Indigenous considerations and input into the IP right granting process.

Following the NZ Trademarks Act, the Canadian Trademarks Act should allow a bar to the registration of trademarks to be that the mark would be likely to offend Indigenous peoples. This would complement existing legislation, which already holds there to be a prohibition of marks bearing “any scandalous, obscene or immoral word or device”. 109 Further, as suggested in the Wai 262 report, any new patent legislation should stipulate a need to declare any Indigenous interests that have contributed to the invention. Comparable to the filing of prior art option provided in Canada’s Patent Act , declaring Indigenous interests would represent a good faith step towards transparency in the patenting process and would help to address underlying trust issues Indigenous people may harbour with the Canadian Government. 110

Indigenous Advisory Committees

An additional step that may be taken to protect Indigenous IP is the formation of advisory committees. Following New Zealand’s example, the proposed committees would be composed of people who are familiar with Indigenous TK. There is strong precedent for the establishment of such committees in Canada, as the Indigenous Advisory Committee already provides expert advice to the Government of Canada on policy matters relating to the Impact Assessment System for large projects. 111 The Indigenous Advisory Committee is composed of experts with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis backgrounds. 112 Though having a different mandate, this committee is demonstrative of both the will and the expertise that the proposed trademark and patent advisory committees would require. In the proposed system, the trademark advisory committee would notify the Commissioner about whether a mark is derivative of Indigenous imagery or words, and advise if there is potential for the mark to offend Indigenous. For example, trademarks bearing inukshuks and other cultural icons would likely be rejected on the basis of offense due to misappropriation. 113 The patent advisory committee would advise the Commissioner about whether an application is derivative of TK, including if the application is linked to TK-related biological resources. Unlike New Zealand’s policy, however, the patent advisory committee should not have a reactionary role, but actively work with the Commissioner and be allowed to provide determinative input on the validity of applications.

Establishing a Canadian Registry for TK

Establishing a Canadian registry of TK would function to protect Indigenous peoples and inform patent and trademark examiners on the validity of applications. As India’s TKDL contains over 200,000 traditional plant uses and has been a major success, it can serve as a model for a similar Canadian database. To be sure, this list would not need to be exhaustive; however, a detailed registry containing Indigenous TK would function as a method for the identification of potentially appropriating applications. Not only would such a registry inform patent and trademark examiners, but the initiative itself would provide comfort to Indigenous peoples such as the Cowichan and Inuit who feel marginalized, unprotected, and virtually defenseless against exploitation.

International instruments such as the CBD, the associated NP, and UNDRIP, all attempt to tip the scales of justice towards respecting Indigenous IP rights. Since Canada played a leading role in the negotiation and signing of the CBD, Canada’s IP practices have been far behind those of other countries. The need for Canadian IP law reform to protect TK was demonstrated through examples involving the Cowichan sweater and amauti controversies. These examples served to illustrate both the powerlessness of Indigenous groups in commercial disputes over their cultural property, and the need for legislative intervention. Despite this need, this paper has shown that Canadian legislation offers inadequate protections for TK.

In an effort to establish a roadmap for Canadian IP reform, various international agreements, as well as the laws and policies of New Zealand and India, were taken into consideration. If Canada can import from the principles of these international agreements, while learning from the laws and policies of other countries, Canada may be able to implement quick legislative reform.

Finally, taking into account the CBD and Canada’s unqualified endorsement of UNDRIP, Canada has both legally and politically binding agreements to implement a system of ABS that respects Indigenous TK. With massive investment in IP legislation, a new emphasis on Indigenous autonomy, and a goal of 2020 by which to implement ABS policies, both the pressure and momentum for change are mounting. With this momentum at its back, it is now time for the Trudeau Government to deliver on Canada’s promise to undergo legislative reform and implement a Federal ABS system. 

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Legal Writing Competitions: By Topic

• By Due Date
• Additional Resources

Legal Writing Competitions

Legal writing competitions are a great way to earn recognition, get your work published, and even earn cash! The Legal Research Center has compiled a list of legal writing competitions, which you can browse by topic or by deadline month.

Some competitions require you to compose a new paper, while others call for the submission of a recently published paper, such as a law review article. Need help developing a topic? See our guides on  Developing a Topic for Research Papers and  Law Review Resources for more information.

This list is updated as new information is received, but note that deadlines and writing topics often change from year to year. Make sure to check each link for the most up-to-date information.

Writing Competitions: By Topic

• Administrative & Regulatory Law
• Admiralty & Maritime Law
• Aerospace Law
• Business Law
• Constitutional Law
• Construction Law
• Consumer Law
• Criminal Law
• Data Privacy & Cybersecurity
• Disability Law
• Dispute Resolution
• Diversity in the Law
• Education Law
• Entertainment & Sports Law
• Environmental Law
• Food & Drug Law
• Government Contracts
• Immigration Law
• Insurance Law
• Intellectual Property
• International Law
• Labor & Employment
• Law Librarianship
• Law & Religion
• Military & National Security Law
• Native American & Indigenous Rights
• New Jersey Law
• Pennsylvania Law
• Professional Responsibility
• Public Interest Law
• Real Estate, Land Use & Housing
• Securities Law
• Technology Law & Legal Tech
• Trusts & Estates
• American Society of Legal Writers Scribes Law-Review Award Deadline: January 15, 2023 Notes: Since 1987, Scribes has presented an annual award for the best student-written article in a law review or journal. The Scribes Law-Review Award is presented at the Scribes annual CLE, which is usually held in April.
• Chapman LLC Scholarship for Law Students Deadline: June 15, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Should collegiate athletes be paid? Argue for or against and provide at least 3 reasons for your position. Eligibility: Law student planning on attending, accepted to attend, or currently attending an accredited law school in the U.S.; U.S. citizen 18 years or older.
• Judge John R. Brown Award for Excellence in Legal Writing Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: Up to $15,000 Eligibility: Any law student currently enrolled in an accredited law school in the United States seeking a J.D. or LL.B degree is eligible to submit a paper for the Award. The article must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a law school faculty member or legal professional other than the author of the paper.
• National Law Review Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: Monthly (reviewed September through May) Notes: The NLR Law Student Writing Competition offers law students the opportunity to submit articles for publication consideration on the NLR Web site.
• Philadelphia Bar Association Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Pursuit of Justice Legal Writing Competition Deadline: August 1, 2023 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Candidates may submit a law review quality submission on any topic relating to rights, privileges, and responsibilities under federal law. Eligibility: Open to full-time and part-time law students who completed their second or third year of study by the end of the 2021-2022 academic year at one of the following six institutions : Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Rutgers Law School, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and Widener University Delaware Law School. Part-time law students who were in their third or later year of study during the 2021-2022 academic year are also eligible.
• ABA Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section K. William Kolbe Writing Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Papers should address a current topic of general interest in a legal area covered by the Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section (communications, cable TV, internet, electricity, gas, oil pipelines, aviation, railroads, and water industries).
• ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Award Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Prize: $5,000 Topic: The entry must discuss any topic relating to administrative law. Eligibility: The Competition is open to law students who are, at the time of entry, (a) enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school, (b) members of the ABA and the Section, (c) at least 21 years old, and (d) U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents.
• American Constitution Society Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition on Regulatory and Administrative Law Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500 Notes: 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. Eligibility: The competition is open to all lawyers and law students. Practicing lawyers, policymakers, academics, and law students all are encouraged to participate. To be considered for the law student category the author(s) must be currently enrolled in a J.D. or LLM program at a U.S. law school.
• ABA Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Recent developments in admiralty and maritime law Eligibility: The Competition is open to any U.S. citizen law student or LLM candidate over the age of 21, currently attending an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions.
• Sarin McGill Annual Student Essay Contest on Aircraft Finance & Leasing Registration Deadline: TBA for 2024 Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: Airfare and accommodations to tour McGill University's Institute of Air and Space Law. Topic: Following the Russian Federation’s re-registration, without the consent of the lessors or the states of registration, of aircraft leased to Russian operators, what are the implications for leasing and financing of aircraft, for the Chicago Convention, for the rule of law generally, and especially for third countries to which any such aircraft may be flown? Are there any precedents and, if so, how may they be compared and contrasted with the current situation? What solutions might there be? Eligibility Any student of law, enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate or doctoral programme in any law school or legal professional training school worldwide, at the time of submission of the entry, shall be considered eligible.
• NYSBA Committee on Animals and the Law: Student Writing Competition Deadline: July 7, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Animal law Eligibility: To be eligible for consideration, the submission must be written by a student currently enrolled (full time or part time) in an ABA-accredited law school. Students expecting to receive their degree in 2022 are eligible for consideration. The submission must be written by one, and only one student, i.e., papers jointly written by more than one student or that have been subjected to line editing by professors or advisors shall not be considered. No paper that has been previously published in any form shall be considered.
• ABA Section of Antitrust Law Robert Pitofsky Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Antitrust or consumer protection law Eligibility: 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, and who is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States. Entrants must submit an original article, which has already been published or which is scheduled to be published.
• NYIPLA Honorable William Conner Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500 Topic: An entry must be directed to any of the following subject areas related to intellectual property, i.e., patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair trade practices, antitrust, and data security/privacy issues. Eligibility: All entrants must be law school students currently enrolled in a J.D. or LL.M. program (day or evening) in an accredited law school in the United States.
• International Insolvency Institute Prize in International Insolvency Studies Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $3,000 Topic: Topics of international insolvency and restructuring significance and comparative international analysis of domestic insolvency and restructuring issues and developments. Eligibility: The Prize Competition is open to full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students and to practitioners in practice for nine years or less. Entries must not have been published.

Deadline:   TBA for 2024 Prize:  $1,000 Topic:  "Business Law" is a broad category. Without attempting to define the area precisely, the subject is intended to include matters within law school curricula in courses entitled: Eligibility:  Author of the paper must be a student enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school’s J.D. program, in good standing, at the time of submission.

• American Constitution Society Constance Baker Motley National Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $3,000 Topic: 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 we 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. Eligibility: The competition is open to all law students who are current, dues-paying ACS National members.
• Baxter Family Competition on Federalism Deadline: TBA for 2025 Prize: $5,000 (CAD) Topic: Federalism: What makes it work (or not!). This broad theme welcomes reflections about the institutional, political and cultural elements that explain successes and failures of federalism, whether small scale or at the macro level. We particularly welcome analyses which explore the potential and pitfalls of cooperative federalism. Cooperative angles are especially encouraged. Eligibility: All undergraduate or graduate students in law or political science students, as well as junior scholars, lawyers or practitioners who graduated in these disciplines with five (5) years of working experience or less, from anywhere around the world.
• Freedom From Religion Foundation Cornelius Vanderbroek Memorial Essay Competition Deadline: June 1, 2023 Prize: $3,500 Topic: As the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has become vital to the global effort to end the pandemic, both government and private employers, as well as some schools, around the country have announced vaccine mandates. Historically, very few employees have claimed religious exemptions from required vaccinations. However, people who oppose COVID-19 vaccines for political or other reasons are now abusing religious exemptions in order to flout vaccine mandates. Against this backdrop lawsuits have surged, challenging vaccine requirements on religious grounds and arguing that religious exemptions to such requirements are required by the First Amendment. Craft an argument that religious exemptions from vaccine requirements are not legally required, addressing constitutional questions as well as other legal issues raised by such mandates.
• ABA Forum on Construction Law’s Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Papers should address a topical issue of interest to the construction industry. Eligibility: The competition is open to any student age 21 years or older enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school during the academic years 2021 and 2022 of the competition who is a legal resident of the United States.
• ABA Antitrust Law Section Harvey Saferstein Consumer Protection Essay Contest Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Consumer protection law
• ABA Business Law Section Mendes Hershman Writing Contest Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Topic: "Business Law" is a broad category. Without attempting to define the area precisely, the subject is intended to include matters within law school curricula in courses entitled: Eligibility: Author of the paper must be a student enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school’s J.D. program, in good standing, at the time of submission more... less... Agency; Bankruptcy; Business Law; Business Organizations; Commercial Law; Consumer Law Contracts; Corporate Finance; Corporate Governance; Corporations; Creditors Rights; Employment Law; Financial Institutions; Insurance Law; Oil and Gas Law; Professional Responsibility; Remedies; Secured Transactions; Securities Regulations; Uniform Commercial Code
• American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers Writing Competition Deadline: November 1, 2023 Prize: $1,500 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.
• ABA Criminal Section Justice Annual William W. Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition Deadline: July 1, 2023 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Technology-enhanced searches Eligibility: The contest is open to students who, on the date the entry is submitted, attend and are in good standing at an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions. Membership in the Criminal Justice Section is not a requirement. Entrants must be at least 21 years of age and legal permanent residents or citizens of the United States.
• Arizona State Law Journal Criminal Justice Reform National Writing Competition Deadline: July 1, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Criminal justice reform Eligibility: Applicants must be enrolled full-time at an ABA-accredited law school at the time of submission.
• Marshall M. Schulman Annual Competition for Student Papers in Criminal Law and/or Criminal Procedure Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500 Topic: Criminal law and/or to criminal procedure, with a particular focus on contemporary issues of concern in the State of California Eligibility: This is a nationwide competition; while the focus is on California law, past winners have included students attending schools across the country.
• National Crime Victim Law Institute Annual Law Student Victims’ Rights Writing Competition Deadline: May 20, 2024 Prize: $200 Topic: Victims’ rights (preference given to papers focusing on rights enforcement in the context of criminal justice systems) Eligibility: Authors/presenters must be enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school at the date of their submission or have graduated from such a school within the last 18 months.
• ABA Antitrust Law Section Privacy and Information Security Committee Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Writing Competition Deadline: February 24, 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Participants are required to submit an original written work on data privacy or cybersecurity law. Eligibility: Contestants need not be a member of the American Bar Association (“ABA”), the Antitrust Law Section ("Section") or the Privacy and Information Security Committee ("Committee") although membership in all is encouraged.
• ABA Commission on Disability Rights Adam A. Milani Writing Competition Deadline: June 9, 2023 Prize: Up to $1,000 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. Eligibility: 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 course at an American law school are also eligible.
• ABA Section of Dispute Resolution James Boskey Essay Competition Deadline: June 9, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Any aspect of dispute resolution practice, theory or research that the contestant chooses. Eligibility: The competition is open to anyone, age 21 or older, who was a full-time or part- time J.D. law student, including students in joint J.D. degree programs, at an ABA-accredited law school during the 2020-21 academic year.
• American Journal of Mediation National Dispute Resolution Writing Competition Deadline: December 15, 2023 Prize: $5,000 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. Eligibility: The competition is open to all North American JD and LLM law students enrolled as of December 15, 2021.
• Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 ; contact [email protected] Prize: $5,000 Topic: Submissions should address a legal topic of importance to the Asian Pacific American community. Eligibility: The Competition is open to all law students and anyone who graduated from law school within the last five years (i.e., 2018 or later) in the United States.
• Dukeminier Awards Jeffrey S. Haber Prize for Student Scholarship Deadline: TBA for 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Sexual orientation and gender identity law
• National Association of Women Lawyers Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: February 1, 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: Entrants should submit a paper on an issue concerning, in your opinion, the most pressing issue related to advancing equality in the legal field. Topics can include but are not limited to, examining race, gender, sex, feminism, LGBTQIA+, pay equity, equal education, and employment opportunity, and or the Equal Rights Amendment, etc. Eligibility: Essays will be accepted from students enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school during the 2020-2021 school year. The essays must be the law student author’s own work and must not have been submitted for publication elsewhere. Papers written by students for coursework or independent study during the summer, fall, or spring semesters are eligible for submission. Notwithstanding the foregoing, students may incorporate professorial feedback as part of a course requirement or supervised writing project.
• National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Bar Association Michael Greenberg Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: Legal issues affecting LGBTQ+ persons.
• Education Law Association George Jay Joseph Award Deadline: August 1, 2022 Topic: The subject matter must address one or more legal issues within any of the various contexts of education, including public and private K-12 schools and institutions of higher education, especially current and emerging issues.
• ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Energy Law Writing Competition Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Any issue related to energy law
• Institute for Energy Law Hartrick Scholar Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Any topic related to energy development. This includes, for example, topics concerning oil and gas law, alternative energy resources, energy regulation, and environmental regulation of the energy industries.
• Grammy Entertainment Law Initiative Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $10,000 tuition-based scholarship, tickets to GRAMMY Awards Topic: Legal issues facing the music industry
• Sports Lawyers Association Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Notes: Each entrant must be a current law or LLM student and 18 years of age or older, and a member in good standing of the Sports Lawyers Association.
• Video Game Bar Association David S. Rosenbaum Scholarship Deadline: Contact [email protected] Prize: $2,500 Topic: Video games and the law. Potential topics could include: developments in game accessibility; reputation management and user-creations (mods, skins, etc.); game developer unionization and labor rights.
• ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Student Writing Contest Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Real property, trust and estate law.* Eligibility: 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, and who is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States. more... less... *“Real property, trust and estate law” is a broad category containing numerous practice disciplines. Without attempting to define the area precisely, the subject is intended to include matters within law school curricula in courses entitled: Property; Estate and Gift Tax; Wills and Decedents’ Estates; Real Estate Development; Environmental Law; Land Use Planning; Federal Taxation; Real Estate Finance; Secured Transactions; Debtors and Creditors; Employee Benefit Plans; Planning, Drafting and Negotiating Commercial Transactions; Taxation and Regulation of Non-Profit Organizations; Business Succession Planning; Life Insurance and Other Insurance Products; Trusts and Trust Law; Wealth Management; Fiduciary Income Taxation; Estate Planning; and Probate and Estate Administration.
• ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Writing Competitions Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: See link for details of eight separate writing competitions: Endangered Species, Energy Law, Forest Law, International Environmental and Resources Law, Native American Resources, Public Land and Resources, Superfund, Brownfields, and Resource Recovery, and Water Law
• Public Citizen Law Hogan/Smoger Access to Justice Essay Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Legal Remedies to Combat Climate Change
• White River Environmental Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Any relevant topic in the fields of environmental law, natural resource law, energy law, environmental justice, land use law, animal law, and agricultural law. Eligibility: Current J.D. or LLM students at any ABA-accredited law school.
• ABA Section of Family Law Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest Registration Deadline: TBA for 2024 Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500.00 Topic: The subject may be any aspect of family law. Eligibility: Contestants must be J.D. students at ABA-approved law schools who are: second or third-year full-time students; second through fourth-year part-time students; or first-year students enrolled in schools where the subject of family law is part of the first-year curriculum; and citizens or legal permanent residents of the U.S. more... less... The primary focus of each essay should be an issue of law, although some interdisciplinary material may be useful in addressing a legal issue. Family law includes dissolution of marriage and other intimate relationships, relationships of persons of the same sex, parentage, custody, child support, division of property, alimony (maintenance), attorney's fees, adoption, dependency, termination of parental rights, rights pertaining to procreation, and alternative dispute resolution of Family Law issues. Family Law generally does not include Juvenile Justice, Probate, Labor, Immigration Law, and sociology topics unless those topics are related to more traditional Family Law subjects.
• Hofstra Law School and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Family Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: 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.
• American Society for Pharmacy Law Simonsmeier Award Deadline: June 30, 2023 Topic: Pharmacy law (law related to pharmacists, pharmacies, the provision of pharmaceutical care, the manufacturing and distribution of drugs, and other food, drug, and medical device policy issues) Eligibility: Papers published in or accepted for publication in any English-language peer-reviewed journal (including law reviews) during the period from January 2020 through December 2021 are eligible.
• American University Washington College of Law National Health Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Papers must address and analyze health law and/or food/drug/device law issues. (Note that a paper that analyzes intellectual property or environmental laws/statutes, even if relating to health or the health care industry, will not be eligible.) Eligibility: Current 2L, 3L, and 4L (evening/part-time) JD and LLM students enrolled in a U.S. law school at the time of paper submission are eligible to participate.
• Food and Drug Law Institute H. Thomas Austern Writing Competition Deadline: June 12, 2023 Prize: $750 Topic: Current legal issues concerning food, drugs, animal drugs, biologics, cosmetics, diagnostics, dietary supplements, medical devices, veterinary devices, cannabis, or tobacco
• Federal Circuit Bar Association Hutchinson Writing Contest Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: $3,000 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.
• American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics Health Law and Anti-Racism Graduate Student Writing Competition Deadline: July 1, 2023 Prize: $500 Topic: Note that a wide variety of topics will be viewed as in scope, but papers must focus specifically on health law in the context of anti-racism. If you have questions about the suitability of your topic, please ask.
• Epstein Becker Green Health Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $4,000 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 (e.g., fraud and abuse, managed care, Medicare/Medicaid, clinical trials, telehealth/telemedicine).
• INS/IYNA Neuroethics Essay Contest Deadline: July 7, 2023 Prize: $250 Topic: Essay submissions can cover any topic in neuroethics and should address a focused problem at the intersections of the mind and brain sciences, ethics, and law. Example topics include, but are not limited to: neuroenhancement, neurolaw, moral psychology, moral philosophy, brain stimulation, ethics of neurodegenerative illness, neurogenetics, neurotechnology policy and regulation, philosophy of mind, clinical ethics in psychiatry and neurosurgery, neural imaging, big data and neuroscience, brain–computer interaction, military applications of neurotechnology, and free will. Notes: Those included in the definition of ‘post-secondary student’ or ‘early career trainees’ during the Spring 2022 semester may submit an essay to either the Academic or General Audience categories. Authors may submit two different essays — one to each category. See Neuroethics Essay Contest website for more information on essay categories.
• Roy Snell Health Care Regulatory and Compliance Writing Competition Registration Deadline: TBA for 2024 Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Notes: In keeping with Roy Snell’s keen interest in practical, realistic, and user-centered communication, as well as a commitment to efficiency and clarity in writing, this demanding competition requires students to analyze a hypothetical fact pattern (the Competition Problem) involving an organization facing multifaceted health care regulatory/compliance matters and draft two separate internal memoranda to two different recipients within the organization. Students must analyze the facts presented, identify any and all regulatory/compliance concerns, and advise the recipient of the memorandum. Eligibility: The competition is open to all full and part-time law students in J.D. programs who have completed their 1L year. The competition is also open to any student currently enrolled in a Compliance Certification Board (CCB) accredited program.
• International Refugee Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $100 Topic: Papers may address any topic related to international law and refugees, stateless persons, internally-displaced persons (IDPs), and/or forced migrants. Eligibility: Student authors must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at an accredited university at the time of submission.
• American College of Coverage Counsel Insurance Law Writing Competition Registration Deadline: TBA for 2024 Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,000 Topic: This year’s writing competition asks students to choose one of two sides in a case involving an insurance company and a Texas based business in preparing a motion for partial summary judgment on a specific set of grounds as presented by each party.
• American Association of Patent Judges Hon. Frederick E. McKelvey Memorial Scholarship Deadline: June 30, 2023 Prize: $500 Topic: For this year’s entry, an entrant must identify ways patents “promote the progress of … useful arts” (Const.; Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 8) and explain how the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) can encourage that. In your answer, please define “useful arts.” Eligibility: Students matriculated at and attending an ABA-accredited law school at least half-time as of February 28, 2022, are eligible to submit an entry for this competition.
• American Intellectual Property Law Association Robert C. Watson Award Deadline: June 30, 2023 Topic: Intellectual property law
• Brooks Kushman Law Student Intellectual Property Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Trademark or patent law Eligibility: Open to any law student in good standing and currently enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school, and who is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States.
• International Trademark Association Ladas Memorial Award Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,250 Topic: Subject of the paper must be trademark law or a matter that directly relates to, or affects, trademarks. Eligibility: Eligible students must be enrolled as either full- or part-time law or graduate students. Eligible papers may include both original unpublished manuscripts and published articles that are submitted to INTA by the submission deadline.
• Pennsylvania Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section Writing Contest Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: Patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets or trade dress Eligibility: Open to all law students enrolled in any law school in the United States who intend to take the Pennsylvania bar exam.
• Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Human Rights Essay Award Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: A scholarship to cover tuition for the Program of Advanced Studies in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for either the Diploma or Certificate of Attendance options Notes: Essay Award Topic for 2023: Equality and Human Rights: Confronting Racial Discrimination Eligibility: Applicants for the Award must hold a law degree and have a demonstrated experience or interest in international human rights law.
• Georgetown Institute of International Economic Law Greenwald Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Current issues relevant to international trade law, the jurisprudence of the WTO or regional trade organizations, jurisprudence concerning U.S. trade organizations, an issue relating to the political economy or the efficacy of U.S. or international trade regimes. Eligibility: JD, LLM, and SJD students
• International Fiscal Association International Tax Student Writing Competition Deadline: September 30, 2023 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Any topic relating to U.S. taxation of income from international activities, including taxation under U.S. tax treaties. Eligibility: All students during the 2021-22 academic year (including independent study and summer 2022 school courses) pursuing a graduate degree (J.D., L.L.M., S.J.D., M.S.T., MTA, Masters of Taxation, or similar program). Any appropriate papers written in fall 2021 or spring and summer 2022.
• NYSBA Albert S. Pergam International Law Writing Competition Award Deadline: November 3, 2023 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Public or private international law Eligibility: Law Students (including J.D., LL.M., Ph.D. and S.J.D. candidates) are cordially invited to submit to the International Section an article concerning any area of public or private international law or practice. Faculty members of any college or university are ineligible to participate.
• Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems Trandafir Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,000 Topic: 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. Eligibility: All students currently enrolled in law or graduate degree programs.
• American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Writing Contest Deadline: June 1, 2023 Prize: $1,800 Topic: Employee benefits legal topics Eligibility: Any J.D. and graduate (L.L.M. or S.J.D.) law students enrolled at any time between August 15, 2021, and August 15, 2022, who have not at any time engaged in the practice of law.
• Louis Jackson Memorial National Student Writing Competition in Employment and Labor Law Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $3,000 Topic: Employment and labor law
• AALL/LexisNexis Call For Papers Awards (Student Division) Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $650 Topic: A paper may address any subject relevant to law librarianship. It may be scholarly or practical in substance and tone, but the subject should be explored in depth with appropriate reference to sources and documentation of assertions. Eligibility: Those enrolled in library school, information management school or the equivalent, or in law school, during the Fall 2022 or Spring 2023 semester. Entrants in the Student Division need not be members of AALL.
• AALL Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: Essays may be on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives.
• Notre Dame Law School Program on Church, State & Society Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $3,000 Topic: Papers should be focused, broadly, on topics related to church, state & society. For guidance on selecting a topic, students may wish to view our Program website and mission statement: https://churchstate.nd.edu/
• ABA Standing Committee on Armed Forces Law Keithe E. Nelson Distinguished Service Award Deadline: TBA for 2024 Topic: Military law or the status of lawyers in the Armed Forces
• National Institute of Military Justice Rear Admiral John S. Jenkins Writing Award for Law Students Deadline: July 31, 2023 Prize: $250 Topic: Military law Eligibility: Papers and/or published articles are eligible for this award if they were written by a candidate for the J.D. in the previous academic year.
• American Indian Law Review National Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500 Topic: Any legal issue specifically concerning American Indians or other indigenous peoples. Eligibility: The competition is open to students enrolled in J.D. or graduate law programs at accredited law schools in the United States and Canada as of the competition deadline of Monday, Feb. 28, 2022.
• Chief Justice John B. Doolin Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Eligibility: Open to any student enrolled in college, at any level.
• National Native American Law Students Association Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Topic: All students are encouraged to submit scholarly articles between twenty (20) and fifty (50) pages, either individually or jointly with other students, about Native American legal issues. Eligibility: Competitors must be active, dues-paying members of National NALSA.
• Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Open to 2L and 3L students at any Pennsylvania law school and Rutgers Law. Topic: Under the existing rules of judicial conduct, how might Pennsylvania's courts utilize current communication tools, such as social media, to engage the people of Pennsylvania to instill confidence in the workings of the judicial branch and its decisions?
• ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability Ed Mendrzycki Essay Contest Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: This year's hypothetical involves multiple ethical and professional liability concerns that arise when a partner in a law firm is retained to represent a client in several business and real estate matters regarding a series of land acquisitions, and the law firm is contacted by the Department of Justice to assist in the investigation of potential money laundering allegations against the client.
• American Inns of Court Warren E. Burger Prize Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Authors should address one or more aspects of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence within the legal profession.
• University of Pennsylvania Law Review Dorothy E. Roberts Public Interest Essay Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 cash prize; $5,000 grant to support public interest work or the work of a non-profit organization or pro bono clinic Topic: Submissions must focus on a specific legal issue within the realm of public interest law, including any issue relating to social justice or advancing the general welfare and good of the public. In addition, the author must include a brief grant proposal for $5,000 to support public interest work related to the essay topic. Topics can be local, state, national, or international in breadth or impact. Eligibility: The competition is open to all current law students (Classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025) from any ABA-accredited American law school as well as recent graduates of such institutions from the classes of 2015 – 2022. Submissions are limited to one per person and must be an original, unpublished academic essay.
• ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Student Legal Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Entries should address any legal issue regarding affordable housing, fair housing and/or community development law. Eligibility: Open to all law students who are at the time of entry, (a) enrolled in a law school that is at the time of entry, ABA Accredited, (b) member of the ABA and the Forum, (c) at least 21 years old, and (d) U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
• American Planning Association Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Planning, planning law, land use law, local government law or environmental law Eligibility: Open to law students and planning students
• Tax Notes Student Writing Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Topic: Submissions should focus on an unsettled question in federal, state, or international tax law or policy. Eligibility: The competition is open to any student currently enrolled in a law, business, or public policy program. Each student may submit only one paper. Co-authored papers will be accepted.
• Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship Writing Competition Deadline: July 10, 2023 Prize: $5,000 Topic: 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). See Competition Rules for more information.
• Georgetown Law Technology Student Writing Competition Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: $4,000 Topic: This year’s writing competition invites submissions on Personal Information, Power, and the Intersection of Technology and Society. Submitted papers should in some way address data-driven or data-intensive technologies. See link for further details and examples of potential topics. Eligibility: Papers will be accepted from students enrolled at any ABA-accredited law school in the United States during the 2021-2022 academic year. The paper must be the author’s own work, although students may incorporate feedback received as part of an academic course or supervised writing project. The paper must not have been published or committed for publication in another journal.
• Harvard Journal of Law & Technology (JOLT) Student Note Competition Deadline: June 9, 2023 Prize: $1700 Topic: Topics may include, but are not limited to, cybercrime, biotechnology, space law, entertainment and news media, comparative legal approaches to intellectual property, the law of the Internet, and technology in the public interest.
• vLex International Law and Technology Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: £1,500 Topic: Can choose one of three topics: law, technology and sports; law, technology and climate; or law, technology and crypto. See competition page for more information. Eligibility: All current students and recent graduates can enter.
• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Topic: The paper must relate to the area of trusts and estates, broadly defined. Entrants should write on issues of general interest, rather than state specific issues. Eligibility: Any law student in good standing (full-time or part-time) who is currently enrolled at the time of submission or was a student within the past 90-day period prior to submission as a J.D. or LL.M. candidate in an ABA-accredited law school within the United States or its possessions. more... less... Any one or more of the following topics are appropriate for discussion: Business Planning; Charitable Planning; Elder Law; Employee Benefits; Fiduciary Accounting; Fiduciary Administration; Fiduciary Income Taxation; Fiduciary Litigation; Estate Planning and Drafting; Professional Responsibility; Substantive Laws for the Gratuitous Transmission of Property; Wealth Transfer Taxation (Estate, Gift and GST Tax)

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De-Coding Indian Intellectual Property Law

Announcing the 3rd Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on Intellectual Property Law

On the occasion of our founder Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer’s 46th birth anniversary today, we at SpicyIP are proud to announce the third edition of the  Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on Intellectual Property Law .

We’d  started this competition in 2020 to celebrate his memory and his legacy of outstanding scholarship. The response to the competition was overwhelming in the previous years and we’ve received entries from law students across India on an impressive range of topics. The past two years saw the competition being open to current law students. This year, we will be accepting entries from not only current law students but also those who completed their first law degree in 2019 or later.

A master with the pen, Shamnad was a prolific writer. Apart from publishing extensively in academic journals (most of the publications can be accessed on his  SSRN page ), he was also the rare Indian academic who wrote extensively for law students and the lay audience, through various media such as  SpicyIP  and mainstream newspapers. A collection of all his publications and public interest interventions can be found on SpicyIP  here  (also accessible from our  Resources page ) as well as on  shamnad.com  (a website dedicated to him).

In his time, Shamnad won prizes in three prestigious essay competitions. The first was an essay competition held by the Stanford Technology Law Review. He won the second prize in that competition for a great piece on the  ‘Policy Style’ Reasoning of the Indian Patent Office . The second essay competition that he won was held by the  International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP)  for young academics. Shamnad won the very first edition of that competition for his essay on Section 3(d) of the Patents Act. The third was an essay competition held by CREATe on the topic of how Artificial Intelligence would change the practice of intellectual property law. Shamnad won the second prize in that competition for his essay titled  ‘Artificial Invention: Mind the Machine’ .

Submission Guidelines

The details of the competition are as follows:

Eligibility : The competition will be open to students currently enrolled in any LL.B. program (or its equivalent – meaning students enrolled in J.D. programs can take part) across the world, as well as to those who have completed their first law degree in 2019 or later.

Registration : There is no registration fee or registration process for the competition. You may e-mail us your essay whenever it is ready.

Co-authorship : Only single author submissions will be accepted for the essay competition. A submission cannot have two or more authors. Submissions with more than one author will not be considered.

Selection of Topic:  The topic of the essay can be anything related to intellectual property rights – the more creative the better. We encourage participants to take inspiration from  Shamnad’s work , which has challenged the orthodoxy of conventional IP wisdom by looking at the subject through the lens of the global south and its development needs. Two values that guided Shamnad through the course of his academic writing, were the need for transparency and democratic participation, during the process of making the law and implementation. His commitment to transparency in enforcement of India’s patent law led him to suing the Patent Office on two occasions in order to secure our right to information. He was also playful in his writing, never afraid to think and communicate unconventionally. He brought rigour and substance to his non-conforming ways and we encourage you to bring the same spirit into your entries.

Word Limit:  The word limit for submissions is 5,000 words (inclusive of footnotes).

Please submit the essays in a MS Word format, with 1.5 line spacing. Please do not submit essays in a PDF format.

We are not prescribing any specific format for footnoting. As long as it is consistent, it should not be a problem.

Deadline and Other Details:

All submissions must be original and unpublished.

The deadline for submissions is  July 14, 2022 (23:59 IST) .  Edit: Now extended to July 24, 2022 (23:59 IST)

Please e-mail all submissions and queries to  [email protected]  ( only).

Please submit a covering letter stating the law school where you are enrolled as a student, along with your essay. If you are a recent graduate, please mention the law school and year of graduation in the covering letter.

Prizes for Winning Essays

The winning essays will receive the following prizes: (Edit: prizes increased thanks to an anonymous supporter)

First prize: INR 15,000 30,000

Second prize : INR 10,000 20,000

Third prize : INR 5,000 10,000

Panel of Judges

Entries will be scored on creativity and analytical strength. Judges will also take into account entries that demonstrate the values Shamnad displayed in his life and career. This does not mean you have to necessarily agree with everything he wrote. Judges reserve the right not to award the prize if it is considered that no entry is of sufficiently high standard or to divide the prize between two or more entries if they so decide. Judges’ decisions in this respect will be final.

The SpicyIP team may shortlist essays to be submitted to an external panel of experts for the final decision. Prof. Shubha Ghosh and Prof. Srividhya Ragavan have very graciously consented to judging the competition and we are very thankful to them for sparing their time and providing us with their inputs for this essay competition. Please see their brief profiles below:

Prof. Shubha Ghosh

Ragavan’s scholarship emphasizes issues intersecting international trade law with intellectual property rights. Ragavan’s books include Patents and Trade Disparities in Developing Countries (Oxford Univ. Press, 2012); Diversity in Intellectual Property: Identities, Interests, and Intersections (Eds., Calboli, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2019) and Intellectual Property Law and Access to Medicines (Eds., Vanni, Routledge 2021). The book was listed as one of Book Authority’s 12 Best New Intellectual Property Books to read in 2022. The book was also nominated by IPKat for the top ten Best IP Law books for 2021. She has authored numerous law reviews and book chapters on a variety of issues published in top law reviews.

Ragavan has the distinction of her work being cited by US Appellate Judge, Judge Jimmie V. Reyna, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Aatrix Software, Inc. v Green Shades Software, Inc., No 17-1452 (Fed-Cir, 2018) and in a different matter being by the Chief Judge of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, India, 2012 in a leading Indian decision Bayer v. Natco, (M.P.Nos.74 to 76 of 2012 & 108 of 2012 at p. 23).

We eagerly look forward to your submissions!

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Announcing the winners of the 3rd shamnad basheer essay competition on ip law, announcing the winners of the 2nd shamnad basheer essay competition on ip law, reminder: 2nd shamnad basheer essay competition on intellectual property law [submit by july 14], announcing the 2nd shamnad basheer essay competition on intellectual property law, 16 thoughts on “announcing the 3rd shamnad basheer essay competition on intellectual property law”.

what will be the deadline of submission of Abstract…? please let me know..

Hi Saswati,

I think there is no separate submission of the abstract, there is just one deadline for the essay i.e. July 14, 2022 (23:59 IST).

Best of Luck

Can the deadline be extended by a few days?

The deadline has been extended to 24th July, 2022. We’ve just put out a post announcing the same.

Has the deadline been extended?

No. It is still July 14, 2022 (23:59 IST).

Hello! Can the receipt of submissions be acknowledged, if possible?

Any idea when the results can be expected?

Hello! Just wanted to check when the results would be out.

By when can we expect the results?

Any update on the result date? Its been like 2 months

Hi Team, by when can we expect the announcement of the results? Been more than 2 months since the submission. Thank you!

When will the results be declared? In the previous editions the results were declared well within 2 months.

It’s going to be 3 months now.

Dear all – the results can be expected in the first week of November.

Hey Swaraj, when will the results be released? The week is almost over!

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PBA Essay Competition 2023

The PBA is pleased to announc this year's top 3 winners - in no particular order -  they will be place and receive their 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes on 20 April.

Anaya Price, University of Bristol Ruari Clark, City, University of London Zachariah Pullar, Inns of Court College of Advocacy

The competition was open to all law undergraduates, LLM, GDL and BPTC students.

1st prize – £1000 and your essay published in EG.

2nd prize - £500 

3rd prize - £250  

In addition each winner will be entitled to an online chat with a Silk, a barrister of 5-10 years call and a barrister of below 5 years call (1 hour each) to discuss getting to the Bar, life at the Property Bar, Property work and/or your future carre.  Each winner will also receive a copy of Megarry & Wade.

The prizes will be presented at a reception in the Old Court Room, Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn on 20 April 2023.

The 2023 Essay Question was:

"Has equity been taken too far in enforcing informal promises of interests in land?” 

Essays must be submitted by 6pm on 9 January 2023.

Entrants are invited to submit an entry of not more than 1,000 words.  Entries should be in word format, text 12 point, 1.5 spaced and sent to [email protected].

Full rules of entry are available  here .

If you have any questions please contact our Administrator, Jo Davies at [email protected]

Download poster

20 April 2023

Essay Competition

[email protected]

PBA members should log in to book a place. Click here to login

Seventh Annual Student Essay Competition

Hayek goes to family court.

Applying Hayek’s theory of law and liberty to contemporary American family law, this Essay concludes that family-law scholars—especially those undertaking distributional analyses—would benefit from greater attention to the Hayekian values of predictability, adaptation, and equal application.

Facilitating Future Workforce Participation for Stay-at-Home Parents: Mitigating the Career Costs of Parenthood

Current policies help parents stay in the workforce after having children. But what about the quarter of American mothers who choose to become stay-at-home moms, then later face employment obstacles? This Essay proposes expanding worker opportunity tax credits and Title VII to help stay-at-home pare…

Volume 133’s Emerging Scholar of the Year: Robyn Powell

Announcing the eighth annual student essay competition, announcing the ylj academic summer grants program, featured content, lock them™ up: holding transnational corporate human-rights abusers accountable, administrative law at a turning point, law and movements: clinical perspectives.

National Essay Competition on Intellectual Property 2023

August 16, 2023

The External Office of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Algeria is jointly organizing a national essay competition on intellectual property with the National Industrial Property Institute (INAPI), National Copyright and Related Rights Office (ONDA) and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

The topic of the essay will be “ World Intellectual Property Day - April 26, 2023 , Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity”.

All students at higher education institutions (undergraduates and above) are strongly encouraged to take part in this national competition. It will grant them the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of intellectual property, particularly the role and contributions of women to the innovation and creative ecosystem.

The winners will be awarded various prizes donated by WIPO, INAPI and ONDA.

Register for the competition from August 19 to September 30, 2023.

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Gagarin Cup Preview: Atlant vs. Salavat Yulaev

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Gagarin cup (khl) finals:  atlant moscow oblast vs. salavat yulaev ufa.

Much like the Elitserien Finals, we have a bit of an offense vs. defense match-up in this league Final.  While Ufa let their star top line of Alexander Radulov, Patrick Thoresen and Igor Grigorenko loose on the KHL's Western Conference, Mytischi played a more conservative style, relying on veterans such as former NHLers Jan Bulis, Oleg Petrov, and Jaroslav Obsut.  Just reaching the Finals is a testament to Atlant's disciplined style of play, as they had to knock off much more high profile teams from Yaroslavl and St. Petersburg to do so.  But while they did finish 8th in the league in points, they haven't seen the likes of Ufa, who finished 2nd. 

This series will be a challenge for the underdog, because unlike some of the other KHL teams, Ufa's top players are generally younger and in their prime.  Only Proshkin amongst regular blueliners is over 30, with the work being shared by Kirill Koltsov (28), Andrei Kuteikin (26), Miroslav Blatak (28), Maxim Kondratiev (28) and Dmitri Kalinin (30).  Oleg Tverdovsky hasn't played a lot in the playoffs to date.  Up front, while led by a fairly young top line (24-27), Ufa does have a lot of veterans in support roles:  Vyacheslav Kozlov , Viktor Kozlov , Vladimir Antipov, Sergei Zinovyev and Petr Schastlivy are all over 30.  In fact, the names of all their forwards are familiar to international and NHL fans:  Robert Nilsson , Alexander Svitov, Oleg Saprykin and Jakub Klepis round out the group, all former NHL players.

For Atlant, their veteran roster, with only one of their top six D under the age of 30 (and no top forwards under 30, either), this might be their one shot at a championship.  The team has never won either a Russian Superleague title or the Gagarin Cup, and for players like former NHLer Oleg Petrov, this is probably the last shot at the KHL's top prize.  The team got three extra days rest by winning their Conference Final in six games, and they probably needed to use it.  Atlant does have younger regulars on their roster, but they generally only play a few shifts per game, if that. 

The low event style of game for Atlant probably suits them well, but I don't know how they can manage to keep up against Ufa's speed, skill, and depth.  There is no advantage to be seen in goal, with Erik Ersberg and Konstantin Barulin posting almost identical numbers, and even in terms of recent playoff experience Ufa has them beat.  Luckily for Atlant, Ufa isn't that far away from the Moscow region, so travel shouldn't play a major role. 

I'm predicting that Ufa, winners of the last Superleague title back in 2008, will become the second team to win the Gagarin Cup, and will prevail in five games.  They have a seriously well built team that would honestly compete in the NHL.  They represent the potential of the league, while Atlant represents closer to the reality, as a team full of players who played themselves out of the NHL. 

• Atlant @ Ufa, Friday Apr 8 (3:00 PM CET/10:00 PM EST)
• Atlant @ Ufa, Sunday Apr 10 (1:00 PM CET/8:00 AM EST)
• Ufa @ Atlant, Tuesday Apr 12 (5:30 PM CET/12:30 PM EST)
• Ufa @ Atlant, Thursday Apr 14 (5:30 PM CET/12:30 PM EST)

Games 5-7 are as yet unscheduled, but every second day is the KHL standard, so expect Game 5 to be on Saturday, like an early start. 

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New laws to stem drug dealers, corrupt officials and dirty money from heating up Australia's real estate market

Buying a home? Soon you won't have as much competition from drug dealers, corrupt officials and criminals with dirty money thanks to new laws and a boost to enforcement.

For decades Australia has lagged the world in anti-money-laundering legislation, meaning real estate agents, lawyers, accountants and dealers in precious metals and stones didn't have to report dodgy transactions or do "due diligence" — checks — on customers.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the reformed laws will work to stop dirty money.

"Each year billions of dollars of illicit funds are generated from illegal activities such as drug trafficking, tax evasion, people smuggling, cybercrime, arms trafficking and other illegal and corrupt practices," he says.

"As a result of the former government’s failure to act, Australia is falling short of meeting the standards required to combat criminal abuse of our financial system, and at increased risk of becoming a haven for money laundering."

Financial crimes agency AUSTRAC will get $166.4 million in the upcoming federal budget to help educate the professions that fall under what are called "Tranche 2" laws, as it cracks down on money laundering that has given a helping hand for criminal elements to use ill-gotten cash to buy property in Australia's already hot housing market .

AUSTRAC estimates that, in 2020 alone, criminals linked to China laundered $1 billion through Australian real estate.

"The reforms are critical in supporting law enforcement partners in their fight against trans-national, serious and organised crime, and protecting Australians," Mr Dreyfus adds.

Home clean-up

Over decades, campaigners have been calling on the federal government to stem the flow of money from criminals who have found a safe home in our property market.

Here it is "laundered", converted from funds that can be linked to criminal activity into "clean" income that appears disconnected from its source.

"For far too long, Australia has been a very attractive destination for dirty money," says Clancy Moore of anti-corruption group Transparency International Australia.

"These laws and the money announced in the budget today will make it much harder for criminals, organised crime gangs and corrupt officials to park their money in Australia."

Out of more than 200 countries, Australia has been alongside China, Haiti, Madagascar and the United States that have not regulated Tranche 2 entities.

Last week the government began the next stage of consultation on reforms to Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime, aiming to reduce the criminal abuse of our financial system after what the attorney-general called "nearly a decade of inaction by the former government".

The $166.4 million will be used by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) to implement the new laws and to support industries to meet their obligations.

This will mean, for example, education programs for real estate agents on what to do when they're confronted with a suspicious transaction.

The problem is not theoretical. 

A new report from Transparency International Australia reveals millions of dollars of dirty money could be flowing from the impoverished nation of Cambodia to Australia annually, with gaps in the law making Australia's real estate sector an attractive destination for money laundering.

The report from advisory firm KordaMentha suggests that in the five years to 2022, 118 properties with a combined value of $110 million were settled in Australia by Cambodian foreign persons. 

To give a sense of the scale, in 2020 more than $516 million in total funds was transferred from Cambodia to Australia. Much of it could be legitimate financial activity or investment.

But the value of money flowing from Cambodia is vastly disproportionate to the nation's wealth — just under 1 per cent of Cambodia's gross domestic product.

(The average income in the authoritarian state is just $1,690 annually).

"We know that Cambodia is an incredibly poor country with lots of people living in poverty," says Mr Moore.

"But it's also a regional hub for money laundering, human trafficking and the drug trade as well. So that amount of money (coming in) is quite concerning.

"It raises serious red flags as to the source of those funds."

Those who work in the field have welcomed the news that greater diligence will be required in future when suspicious transactions are made.

KordaMentha partner Alice Saveneh-Murray, who works in the field of financial crime, says signing up to Tranche 2 laws will make the nation safer.

"This brings into focus the regulatory gaps in Australia's regime and how AML/CTF reform will bring Australia closer to being compliant with its international obligations," she says.

"We know that this issue is not isolated to Cambodia and the Asia-Pacific region, but our research clearly emphasises the need the to take urgent steps to reduce the risk of Australian real estate being used by criminals for money-laundering and terrorism financing, as well as in other industry sectors that will be covered by the AML/CTF tranche 2 reforms proposed by the government."

'Regulatory creep'

The laws will mean more work for real estate agents.

Real Estate Institute of Australia president Leanne Pilkington says current drafts leave some questions unanswered.

"Tranche 2 is all about activating the small business community to be the extended workforce for AUSTRAC and the Australian Federal Police to do their jobs effectively," she argues.

Speaking before the full details of the announcement were available, Ms Pilkington noted that substantial investment and training would be needed.

"The regulatory creep from the Albanese government across all portfolios is growing and creating more pain points when you consider anti-money laundering reforms, privacy reforms and cybersecurity reforms," she argues.

"Where is the collective cost-benefit [analysis] on the mum and dad business sector for this?" 

The second stage of consultation over the laws closes on June 13, 2024.

The federal budget will be handed down on May 14, 2024.

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Out of the Centre

Savvino-storozhevsky monastery and museum.

Zvenigorod's most famous sight is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, which was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva from the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra, at the invitation and with the support of Prince Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod. Savva was later canonised as St Sabbas (Savva) of Storozhev. The monastery late flourished under the reign of Tsar Alexis, who chose the monastery as his family church and often went on pilgrimage there and made lots of donations to it. Most of the monastery’s buildings date from this time. The monastery is heavily fortified with thick walls and six towers, the most impressive of which is the Krasny Tower which also serves as the eastern entrance. The monastery was closed in 1918 and only reopened in 1995. In 1998 Patriarch Alexius II took part in a service to return the relics of St Sabbas to the monastery. Today the monastery has the status of a stauropegic monastery, which is second in status to a lavra. In addition to being a working monastery, it also holds the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.

Belfry and Neighbouring Churches

Located near the main entrance is the monastery's belfry which is perhaps the calling card of the monastery due to its uniqueness. It was built in the 1650s and the St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was opened on the middle tier in the mid-17th century, although it was originally dedicated to the Trinity. The belfry's 35-tonne Great Bladgovestny Bell fell in 1941 and was only restored and returned in 2003. Attached to the belfry is a large refectory and the Transfiguration Church, both of which were built on the orders of Tsar Alexis in the 1650s.  

To the left of the belfry is another, smaller, refectory which is attached to the Trinity Gate-Church, which was also constructed in the 1650s on the orders of Tsar Alexis who made it his own family church. The church is elaborately decorated with colourful trims and underneath the archway is a beautiful 19th century fresco.

Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is the oldest building in the monastery and among the oldest buildings in the Moscow Region. It was built between 1404 and 1405 during the lifetime of St Sabbas and using the funds of Prince Yury of Zvenigorod. The white-stone cathedral is a standard four-pillar design with a single golden dome. After the death of St Sabbas he was interred in the cathedral and a new altar dedicated to him was added.

Under the reign of Tsar Alexis the cathedral was decorated with frescoes by Stepan Ryazanets, some of which remain today. Tsar Alexis also presented the cathedral with a five-tier iconostasis, the top row of icons have been preserved.

Tsaritsa's Chambers

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is located between the Tsaritsa's Chambers of the left and the Palace of Tsar Alexis on the right. The Tsaritsa's Chambers were built in the mid-17th century for the wife of Tsar Alexey - Tsaritsa Maria Ilinichna Miloskavskaya. The design of the building is influenced by the ancient Russian architectural style. Is prettier than the Tsar's chambers opposite, being red in colour with elaborately decorated window frames and entrance.

At present the Tsaritsa's Chambers houses the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum. Among its displays is an accurate recreation of the interior of a noble lady's chambers including furniture, decorations and a decorated tiled oven, and an exhibition on the history of Zvenigorod and the monastery.

Palace of Tsar Alexis

The Palace of Tsar Alexis was built in the 1650s and is now one of the best surviving examples of non-religious architecture of that era. It was built especially for Tsar Alexis who often visited the monastery on religious pilgrimages. Its most striking feature is its pretty row of nine chimney spouts which resemble towers.

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