Student Writing Competitions
Student Writing Competitions
This is a list of writing competitions open to law students. Filter the list by topic by clicking on the drop down box below. Each competition name is a link to more information. Please contact lawref@wfu.edu with any questions.
| Topic | Competition Name | Prize | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative Law | Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Competition | $5,000; complimentary registration for Virtual Live Administrative Law Conference | |
| Administrative Law | Judicature Writing Competition for Emerging Scholars | $1,000; considered for publication in a future print edition of Judicature, Duke Law’s publication focused on the judiciary | 12/31/2025 |
| Administrative Law | Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition on Regulatory and Administrative Law | $1,500 | |
| Admiralty & Maritime Law | The Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee Writing Competition | $1,000; invitation to participate in A Day in Marine Insurance with Gard (North America), Inc.; publication in AMLC Newsletter; waiver of registration fee and travel expenses reimbursed from the ABA up to $500 to attend the 2025 TIPS Fall Meeting or the 2027 Admiralty Disruption Conference. 2nd place gets $500, waiver of registration fee and travel expenses for aforementioned conferences, and publication in AMLC Newsletter. | |
| Agricultural Law | American Agricultural Law Association Law Student Paper Writing Contest | Cash Prize; registration for AALA Annual Education Symposium; article pulished in the AALA Symposium Edition of the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law | 10/1/2025 |
| Alcohol Law | National Writing Competition – Center for Alcohol Policy | $5,000. 2nd place gets $2,500. 3rd place gets $1,000. | |
| Animal Law | NYSBA Committee on Aminals and the Law: Student Writing Competition | $1,000; Certificate of Achievement. 2nd place gets $500 and a Certificate of Achievement. 3rd and 4th place winners receive a Certificate of Recognition. | |
| Antitrust | Harvey Saferstein Consumer Protection Committee Student Essay Contest | $5,000;complimentary registration and travel expenses to the ABA Antitrust Law Section’s Meeting. 2nd place gets $3,000. 3rd place gets $2,000. | |
| Antitrust | Robert Pitofsky Law Student Writing Competition | $5,000; free one year membership in the Antitrust Law Section; complimentary registration and travel expenses to the ABA Antitrust Section Meeting | |
| Bankruptcy | ABI – Bankruptcy Law Student Writing Competition | ||
| Bankruptcy | III International Insolvency Studies | Gold Medal Prize. Silver Medal Prize, and Bronze Medal Prize for 2nd and 3rd place | |
| Business Law | Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest | $1000. 2nd and 3rd place have their pieces considered for publication in Business Law Today. | |
| Business Law | National Business Law Scholarship | $500 | |
| Business Law | Trandafir Writing Competition | $2,5000; publication in Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems Journal | 3/13/2026 |
| Civil Procedure | George Hutchinson Writing Competition | $3,000. 2nd and 3rd place prizes may be awarded upon the judges’ discretion. | |
| Civil Rights | AEF Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition | $2,000 | |
| Civil Rights | Fred Gray Civil Rights Writing Competition | $7,500; considered for publication in the Texas Tech Law Review. 2nd place gets $5,000. 3rd place gets $2,500. | 2/20/2026 |
| Civil Rights | NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund Second Amendment Research and Writing Competition | $10,000. 2nd place gets $7,000. 3rd place gets $3,000. | 3/1/2026 |
| Constitutional Law | Center for Alcohol Policy: National Writing Competition | $5,000. 2nd place gets $2500. 3rd place gets $1000. | |
| Constitutional Law | Church, State & Society Writing Competition | $3,000. 2nd place gets $2,000. 3rd place gets $1,000. Honorable Mention gets $500. | |
| Constitutional Law | Constance Baker Motley Writing Competition | $3,000. 2nd and 3rd place will receive $1000. All winners will be featured during the ACS National Convention and on social media platforms. | |
| Constitutional Law | First Amendment Scholars – Law Student Essay Competition | $4,000. 2nd place gets $3,000. 3rd place gets $2,000. Honorable Mention(s) get $500. | 1/30/2026 |
| Constitutional Law | Freedom from Religion Foundation Student Essay Contests | $3,500. There are 10 additional prizes total with a minimum of $300. | |
| Constitutional Law | Mike Edison Scholarship Fund | $5,000 | |
| Constitutional Law | Legal Scholarship by Moses and Rooth Attorneys at Law | $1,000 scholarship to incoming first year or continuing law student. | |
| Constitutional Law | Cohen and Cohen Civil Justice Scholarship | $1,000 | |
| Consumer Financial Services | ACCFSL Annual Writing Competition | $1,500; certificate of recognition; travel expense to attend the college’s annual dinner. | 11/1/2025 |
| Criminal Law | Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition | $2,500. Everyone who enters receives a free year membership in the CJS. | |
| Criminal Law | Marshall Manne Schulman Competition for Students Papers in Criminal Law and/or Criminal Procedure | $2,500; publication in the Criminal Law Journal. 3 honorable mentions get $1,000 cash prize and will be published in the Criminal Law Journal as well. | |
| Criminal Law | National Student Writing Competition on Criminal Justice Reform | $1,000; considered for publication in Arizona State Law Journal | |
| Disability Law | Adam A. Milani Writing Competition | $300 – $1,000 depending on whether multiple awards are given | |
| Dispute Resolution | James B. Boskey Law Student Essay Contest on Dispute Resolution | $1,000 | |
| Dispute Resolution | American Journal of Mediation – National Writing Competition | $5,000. 2nd place gets $2,000. | 5/31/2026 |
| Education Law | George Jay Joseph Award | Complimentary membership; conference registration for the year of the award. | |
| Elder Law | NYSBA Elder and Special Needs Law Journal Diversity Writing Competition | $1,000 for first and second place students; publication in the ESNLJ; compliementary 1 year membership in the ELSN Section | |
| Employment and Labor Law | College of Labor and Employment Lawyers Law Student Writing Competition | $3,000; 2nd place gets $1,000, and 3rd place gets $500. | |
| Employment and Labor Law | Labor and Employment Law Section: Dr. Emanuel Stein and Kenneth Stein Memorial Law Student Writing Competition | $3,000;publication in Section newsletter. 2nd place gets $2,000, and 3rd place gets $1,000. | |
| Employment and Labor Law | American College of Employee Benefits Counsel – Sidney M. Perlstadt Memorial Award | $2,500; considered for publication | |
| Employment and Labor Law | American College of Employee Benefits Counsel – Brian J. Dougherty Memorial Award | $2,500; considered for publication | |
| Employment and Labor Law | Louis Jackson Memorial National Student Writing Competition | $3,000. Two $1,000 awards will be presented to two second-place winners. All awards are in the form of scholarships. | |
| Employment and Labor Law | National Law Review Writing Competition | ||
| Energy Law | Energy Law Writing Competition | $1,000 | |
| Energy Law | Institute for Energy Law 2025 Hartick Scholar Writing Competition Winner | $2,500 | |
| Entertainment, Arts, & Sports | David S. Rosenbaum Writing Competition | $2,500 | |
| Environmental Law | ABA Environment, Energy, and Resources Section Writing Competition | First-place winner in each of the five topic categories will receive $1,000; considered for publication. | |
| Family & Children | Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest | Top three winners considered for publication on ABA Family Law Section’s website. 1st place gets $1,500. 2nd place gets $750. 3rd place gets $350. | |
| Food & Drug Law | |||
| Government Law | |||
| Health Law | Health Law Writing Competition | Epstein Becker Green | $7,500. 2nd place gets $4,000. | |
| Health Law | National Health Law Writing Competition | American University, Washington, DC | $1,500. 2nd place gets $1,000. 3rd place gets $500. Honorable Mention gets $150. | |
| Health Law | Roy Snell Health Care Regulatory and Compliance Writing Competition | $5,000. 2nd place gets $3,000. 3rd place gets $1,500. Top three winners also receive complimentary registration for the HCCA Annual Compliance Institute (valued at over $1,500) and up to $1,500 in travel and conference-related expenses. | |
| Immigation Law | International Refugee Law Student Writing Competition | 100; complimentary admission to the ASIL meeting | |
| Indigenous Rights | AILR National Writing Competition | OU College of Law | $1,500; considered for publication by American Indian Law Review, an official periodical of the University of Oklahoma College of Law; awarded an eBook copy of Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law, provided by LexisNexis. | 2/27/2026 |
| Insurance Law/Professional Responsibility | Ed Mendrzycki Essay Contest | $5,000; round-trip airfare and two-night stay at Omni Charlotte Hotel to attend the Spring National Legal Malpractice Conference in Charlotte, NC; complimentary registration to attend all educational programming sessions at the Spring National Legal Malpractice Conference | |
| Insurance Law/Professional Responsibility | Smith-Doheny Legal Ethics Writing Competition | $2,500 | |
| Intellectual Property | Honorable William C. Conner Writing Competition – NYIPLA | $2,500. 2nd place gets $1,500. | |
| International Law | International Section: Albert S. Pergam International Law Writing Competition Award | $2,000; considered for publication | 11/8/2025 |
| Law & Society | |||
| Legal History | |||
| Legal Writing | Armstrong Lee & Baker Law School Contest | $2,500 | 12/31/2025 |
| Legal Writing | The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation Annual Brown Award | $15,000 and $5,000 to the Scholarship selected by the Dean of the law school in which the First-Place candidate is enrolled. 2nd place gets $7,500. 3rd place gets $5,000. Other finalist(s) get $2,500. | |
| National Security | |||
| Property Law | ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section Law Student Writing Competition | $2,500; free round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations to a RPTE Section meeting; one-year free RPTE membership; considered for publication in The Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal, the Section’s law review journal; name and essay title published in the eReport, the Section’s electronic newsletter. 2nd place gets $1,500 and 3rd place gets $1,000; both also get one-year free RPTE membership, and same publication considerations. | |
| Property Law | 2025 ACREL Law Student Writing Award | $2,000; invitation to attend the ACREL Spring Meeting with travel and lodging covered; 2nd place gets $1,000. | |
| Public Policy | |||
| Race and the Law | |||
| Securities Law | |||
| Sexual Orientation and Gender Law | Dukeminier Awards Writing Competition | $1,000; the Jeffrey S. Haber Prize for Student Scholarship, and will be considered for publication | 12/22/2025 |
| Sexual Orientation and Gender Law | 2025 Mirza Law Scholarship Program | $1,000; opportunity to complete an internship at Mirza Law | |
| Sexual Orientation and Gender Law | Michael Greenberg Writing Competition | $500; publication in the Tulane Journal of Law and Sexuality | |
| Tax Law | |||
| Technology and Innovation | Berkeley Technology Law Journal Writing Competition | $1,000; considered for publication. 2nd place gets $500. | |
| Technology and Innovation | Sage IT Writing Competition | $1,000 | 12/7/2025 |
| Trial Practice | |||
| Trusts & Estates | |||
| Veterans Law | |||
| Women and the Law | Selma Moidel Smith Writing Competition | $500; paper will be published in the spring/summer issue of the Women Lawyers Journal; complimentary ticket to the National Association of Women Lawyer’s annual meeting | 4/17/2026 |
| Women and the Law | Victoria Fisher Memorial Prize 2025 – Women and the Law | $250 | 11/28/2025 |