Writing Competitions and Contests

Get published and win rewards. As a Law Student Division member, you are eligible to participate in ABA law student writing competitions sponsored by ABA specialty groups. Some writing competitions even offer monetary awards and publishing credit.

For more information, please contact the sponsoring entity directly. Need help finding an entity?

ABA Writing Competitions

Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice

• Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Award Competition
  Entry Deadline: May 1
  Award: Cash prize of $5000 plus up to $1000 of expenses paid for travel/accommodation to attend the Fall Administrative Law Conference.

Antitrust Law

• Section of Antitrust Law – Law Student Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: January 31
  Award: $2,500 and Free admission and round-trip airfare to Spring Meeting,Announcement in upcoming issue of Antitrust, the Section’s magazine and the section’s e-magazine.

Business Law

• Mendes Hershman Writing Contest
  Entry Deadline: February 15
  Award: $1,000 cash prize

Criminal Justice

• Criminal Justice Annual William W. Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: July 1
  Award: $2,500; expense-paid trip to ABA Annual Meeting; and possible publication in Criminal Justice magazine.

Commission on Disability Rights

• Disability Rights Adam A. Milani Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: June 8
  First Prize will range between $300 and $1,000, depending on whether multiple awards are given; possible publication in the Disability Rights Reporter.

Consumer Protection Committee

• Consumer Protection Committee Law Student Essay Contest
  Entry Deadline: February 1
  Award: First place: $5,000 scholarship and all expense paid trip to ABA Antitrust Law’s Spring Meeting. Second Place, $3,000. Third place, $2,000.

Forum on Construction Law

• ABA Forum on Construction Law’s Law Student Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: June 5
  Award: Cash prize of $2,000; travel expenses and registration to attend the next fall meeting of the ABA Forum on Construction Law (where a first prize plaque will be presented); a one-year membership in the Forum and recognition in both the Forum newsletter, Under Construction, and on the Forum’s website.

Environment, Energy, & Resources

• Endangered Species Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: May 16
  Award: First place: $1,000 cash prize, second place: $750 cash prize, third place: $500 cash prize
• Energy Law Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: May 17
  Award: First place: $1,000 cash prize, second place: $750 cash prize, third place: $500 cash prize.
• Public Land Law and Policy Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: May 31
  Award: First place: $1,000 cash prize.
• Water Resources Law Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: May 31
  Award: First place: $1,000 cash prize, second place: $750 cash prize, third place: $500 cash prize.
• Law Student Program of the Year Award
  Entry Deadline: May 31

Family Law

• Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest
  Entry Deadline: April 12
  Award: First place cash prize of $1,500; 2nd place $750; 3rd place $350

Health Law

• Annual ABA Health Law Student Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline:  November 30
  Award: First place: Publication in The Health Lawyer, a $500 honorarium, and attendance at the ABA’s Emerging Issues in Healthcare conference.

Law & National Security

• Law and National Security Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: August 31
  Award: $500; free registration to the 21st Annual Review of the Field of National Security Law Conference (FNSL); air travel and one night’s lodging to FNSL to receive award; and possible publication in the National Security Law Report.

Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability

• ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability and Long & Levit LLP – Ed Mendrzycki Essay Contest
  Entry Deadline: February 15
  Award: $5,000 cash prize and an all-expense-paid trip to the Spring 2019 National Legal Malpractice Conference in Miami Beach, Florida, April 3-5, 2019.

Public Contract Law

• Public Contract Law Student Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: September 30
  Award: $5,000; publication in the Public Contract Law Journal; and possible presentation of paper at the Federal Procurement Institute.

Real Property, Trust & Estate

• Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Student Writing Contest
  Entry Deadline: May 31
  Award: $2,000; expense-paid trip to attend the Section’s Fall Council Meeting; and one-year free Section membership.

Tort Trial and Insurance Practice (TIPS)

• Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee Law Student Writing Competition
  Entry Deadline: April 3
  Award: $500; financial assistance to attend the ABA Annual Meeting ($500 maximum).
• Dispute Resolution James Boskey Essay Competition
  Entry deadline: June 15
  Award: $1,000; published on Dispute Resolution website

Other Writing and Essay Contests

Center for Alcohol Policy Annual Essay Contest
Entry deadline: December 7
Award: Cash prizes will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners in the amounts of $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000 respectively.

Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition
Entry deadline: December 18
Award: $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second; $1,000 for top doctoral law student.

Hofstra Law School and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Family Law Writing Competition
Entry Deadline: February 15
Award: $500; possible publication in the Family Court Review.

Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition
Entry deadline: April 16
Awards: The winner will receive a $500 prize from Cengage Learning and up to $1,000 for expenses to attend the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting. Winning and runner-up entries will be invited to submit their entries to Unbound, the official journal of Legal History and Rare Books.

National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees Law Student Writing Competition
Entry Deadline: April 30
Award: The author of the first-place essay will receive a $1000.00 cash prize. The winning essay will be published in the NACTT Quarterly – The Quarterly Journal of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees. The winner will also receive free registration and a room for the 2019 NACTT annual seminar in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Bar Association
Michael Greenberg Student Writing Competition
Entry Deadline: June
Awards: Cash prizes. First-place winner will also receive registration, airfare and lodging to attend the Lavender Law Conference and publication in the Journal of Law and Sexuality at Tulane University Law School.

California Supreme Court Historical Society Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition
Entry Deadline: June 30
Award: $2,500 cash prize and an opportunity to be published via the Association’s website. $500 for second place, $250 for third.

Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF) – Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition
Entry Deadline: July 1
Award: $1,500 and publication in the UCLA Asian Pacific American Law Journal.

Delaware Bar Foundation – Bruce M. Stargatt Legal Ethics Writing Competition
Entry deadline: September 15
Award: Cash prizes of $2000, $1000 and $500 will be awarded to the top three papers. The first place paper will be published in “Delaware Lawyer” magazine.

Chapman LLC Scholarship for Law Students
Entry Deadline: November 15
Award: A check for $1,000 will be sent to the scholarship recipient’s law school of choice for law school expenses.