There are seven writing competitions open to law students with deadlines in June, plus many more competitions with deadlines throughout the summer.  Below is a list of competitions with upcoming deadlines.  To view a more complete list, go to https://www.law.louisville.edu/node/7044.  Good luck!

 

25th Annual Law Student Essay Contest

Sponsor: American Judges Association

General criteria: Essays submitted must be under the topic of "Comparing Hearsay Rules in Different Courts."  All papers shall be the original, unpublished work of an individual student, but may have been prepared as a course assignment.

Deadline: June 1, 2013

Amount of award: First prize is $3,000; second is $1,500; and third is $1,000.

Submission information: See http://aja.ncsc.dni.us.

 

KBA Annual Student Writing Competition

The Kentucky Bar Association encourages UofL Law students to enter the KBA Annual Student Writing Competition.  This competition is open only to students at the three Kentucky law schools - UL, UK, and Chase! 

First ($1,000), second ($300), and third place ($200) awards will be given.  Entries must be received by June 1, 2013.

Students may enter their previously unpublished articles. Articles should be of interest to Kentucky practitioners and follow the suggested guidelines and requirements found in the "General Format" section of the Bench & Bar Editorial Guidelines at www.kybar.org/103.

Our very own Leah Rupp Smith won the 2012 KBA Writing Award with her entry titled "Standing Your Ground: The Happy Medium Buried in Kentucky's Common Law."   Let's continue the tradition for 2013!

Submission Information

National Student Writing Contest on Real Property Law 

Sponsor:  The Texas Wesleyan Journal of Real Property Law (Property Journal)

Criteria: This is a national writing competition for all law students on any topic falling into the general theme of real property law. This is a great opportunity for students on law reviews and journals whose note or comment may not have made the final publication cuts, and students who have written excellent papers for a seminar class or independent study. There are cash prizes as well as an opportunity to publish in the Property Journal.

Deadline:  June 1, 2013

Amount of award: First-place will receive $750; Second-place will receive $500.00; and if a Third-Place essay is selected, that author will receive $250.00.

Submission information: http://www.realpropertyjournal.org/Home/national-writing-contest.

 

Employee Benefits Writing Competition

Sponsor: The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel

Criteria:  Papers must deal with employee benefits topics.  As an illustrative example, a paper might address legal issues involving health benefits, pensions, 401(k) plans, severance, executive compensation, claims, appeals, current or former spouses' or domestic partners' benefits, collectively-bargained benefits, benefits in bankruptcy, ERISA litigation or fiduciary obligations. 

Deadline: June 1, 2013

Amount of award:  Two cash prizes of $1,500 for the top two submissions.  The law students who submit the wining papers will be our honored guests at our annual black tie dinner in New Orleans on November 9, 2013.

Submission information: See competition rules.

 

2013 Brown Award of $10,000 for Excellence in Legal Writing

Sponsor: The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation

General criteria: Any law student currently enrolled in an accredited law school seeking a J.D. is eligible.  To be considered, four copies of a current legal writing must be submitted to the Foundation. There is no page limitation or restriction on the topic except that the writing must be on a legal subject.  The 2012 Award was presented to Daniel Alterbaum of Yale Law School for his paper entitled, Control Share Acts, Closed-End Funds, and the Battle for Corporate Control. 

Deadline: June 7, 2013

Amount of award: $10,000

Submission information: www.brownsims.com/about-brown-sims/affiliations/judge-john-r-brown-award

 

 

30th Annual Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition

Sponsor: Planning & Law Division of the American Planning Association

General criteria: The Competition is open to law students and graduate planning students writing on a question of significance in planning, planning law, land use law, local government law or environmental law.

Deadline: June 7, 2013

Amount of award: The winning entry will be awarded a prize of $2,500 and will be submitted for publication in The Urban Lawyer, the law journal of the American Bar Association's Section of State & Local Government Law.  In addition to the first prize, the Competition will offer a second place prize of $500 and a third prize of $250.  Up to two additional submissions may be awarded Honorable Mention.

Submission information:  Visit http://www.law.asu.edu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=epuHJYqwa-4%3D&tabid=937.

 

 

2013 Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition

Sponsor: American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

General criteria: Law students may submit an original, previously unpublished work that relates to an issue within one or more of the following topics in the area of trusts and estates: Businss planning; charitable planning; elder law; employee benefits; fiduciary accounting, administration, income taxation, or litigation; estate planning; professional responsibility; or wealth transfer taxation.

Deadline: June 14, 2013

Amount of award: $5,000 for first place; $3,000 for second place; $1,000 for third place.

Submission information: http://www.actec.org/public/WenigCompetition/WenigCompetitionRules.asp

James Boskey Writing Competition

Sponsor: ABA Section on Dispute Resolution

General criteria: The purpose of the competition is to promote greater interest in and understanding of the field of dispute resolution and collaborative decision-making among law students.  The essay may address any aspect of dispute resolution practice, theory or research that the contestant chooses.

Deadline: June 14, 2013

Amount of Award: $1,000

Submission information: Visit http://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/awards_competitions.html

12th Annual Environmental Law Essay Competition

Sponsor: Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan

General criteria: The Competition is open to all law students.  Essays must be original and not previously published.  They may have been submitted for course credit or for law review, but not as part of paid employment.  Any environmental law topic of current interest to Michigan practitioners.

Deadline: June 30, 2013

Amount of award: $2,000 for first place; $1,000 for second place; and $500 for third place.  Winning essays will be published in the Michigan Environmental Law Journal.

Submission information:  See flyer.

The Executive Committee of the Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar has established the Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Student Award.  The award was created to recognize both excellence and achievement in the field of bankruptcy and corporate restructuring law, and to encourage the pursuit of a career in bankruptcy law and corporate restructuring.
 
Dean Ballard is accepting student self nominations through May 17, 2013.  Nominees for the MRBS Distinguished Law Student Award will be a first or second year law student with a superior academic record, a strong interest in the practice of bankruptcy law and corporate restructuring, and a commitment to pursuing a career in the practice. 

To self nominate, please send your resume and a statement of interest in the fields of bankruptcy law and corporate restructuring to Dean Ballard by May 17.  Members of the Executive Committee will select up to four students from law schools in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky to receive the award.  The recipients will receive:

• Complimentary registration at the Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar scheduled for August 22-23 in Cincinnati, Ohio;
• Reimbursement for reasonable travel expenses;
• Two nights stay at the Westin Hotel in Cincinnati;
• Invitations to the Reds game on August 21 and faculty dinner on August 22;
• Listing of the Distinguished Law Student recipients on the MRBS website; and
• Recognition and award during lunch on August 22.

The Young Lawyers Division of the Kentucky Bar Association will award a $500 bar study award to a graduating University of Louisville Law student based on the following criteria:
The $500 award shall be granted to a graduating 3L or 4L who: (1) has made a significant contribution to his/her law school community (with preference for participation in student organizations such as the Student Bar Association); (2) has a demonstrated need for financial assistance; and (3) intends to practice in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  

The award shall be used for expenses associated with taking the Kentucky Bar Exam in July 2013.  Individuals wishing to apply for the award should submit a one-page letter detailing why he/she should receive the award along with a resume to Dean Ballard by May 17, at 5:00 p.m.  The determination will be made in the sole discretion of the Executive Committee of Young Lawyers Division of the Kentucky Bar Association.

Professor Tony Arnold’s innovative educational methods and “unparalleled devotion to students” have won him the University of Louisville’s 2013 Trustees Award. The annual award, selected by the Board of Trustees, recognizes a faculty member for extraordinary impact on students and is considered by many to be the highest honor the University bestows on a faculty member. Arnold will receive a plaque and a $5,000 cash award and will give a speech at the University Commencement ceremonies in May 2013.

Arnold is the Boehl Chair in Property and Land Use at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law. He holds an affiliated appointment in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs and directs the Center for Land Use and Environmental Responsibility.

Twenty-nine of Arnold’s former students in law and urban planning wrote letters of support for Interim Dean Susan Duncan’s nomination of Arnold. When news of his selection was posted on Facebook, hundreds of his former students “liked” or commented on it.

The fact that Arnold remains connected with his former students, many of whom he counts as friends, says a lot about the importance of mentoring to him. He is grateful for the positive, lasting influence of his own mentors, which has motivated him to make mentoring a core part of his role as a teacher. He often goes out of his way to be available to help students. One student described Arnold as “a compassionate professor and mentor that always goes above and beyond his call of duty to see students succeed.” A former student talked about how Arnold’s belief in her helped her to overcome her under-confidence as an African American woman from a western Kentucky farm family. With his encouragement and support, she received a national fellowship from the American Association of University Women and went on to realize her dream of working on agriculture policy and justice with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC. Others wrote about how he connected them with a job or internship opportunity. Many students credited their professional and personal success to Arnold’s mentoring.

His students praised his innovative experiential-learning methods that integrate intellectual rigor with development of practical skills. They stated that his methods should be a national model for legal education and that his courses were among the best they had ever had. He teaches a Land Use and Planning Law class in which interdisciplinary teams of law and urban planning students work on service-learning projects for government agencies or nonprofit organizations. Many of these projects have actually influenced public policy, and one – an urban tree canopy plan for Louisville – won a statewide planning award. His Real Estate Transactions class is structured around simulated negotiation and drafting of complex transactional documents based on real-world examples. Student after student wrote about how they were able to use practical skills learned in Arnold’s classes in the professional world, but also were able to see issues deeply, critically, and from multiple disciplines.

Students also expressed great enthusiasm for Arnold’s field-study land and water conservation seminars, in which he organizes many extensive field trips that take students to the sites of real-world environmental issues, where they discuss them with the participants. One student wrote, “It is one thing to learn about the conservation efforts taking place at the Green River dam in the classroom; it is quite another thing to learn about them at the riverside from the people on the ground. The courses were extraordinary and Professor Arnold really highlighted the intersection of the law and extra-legal disciplines as a vehicle for collaborative problem solving.”

Arnold is not only a distinguished teacher and mentor but also an internationally renowned multidisciplinary scholar. He received the University’s top award for outstanding research and scholarship in the social sciences in 2011, and his publications have been cited by scholars, policy-makers, and professionals over 1700 times. Arnold’s students articulated the tremendous value of being taught by a prominent expert. His obvious enthusiasm for his subject matter has created a positive and effective learning environment, as well as research innovations that are influencing our ideas and institutions.

University Trustee Bruce Henderson stated that Arnold’s “approach to scholarship, teaching and practice is cutting-edge, dynamic, multi-dimensional, and practical.” Arnold states that he hopes to make a positive difference in the world, not only through his own research and public service but also through the impact that he has on the education and lives of his students.

Arnold received his Bachelor of Arts with Highest Distinction from the University of Kansas in 1987, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence with Distinction from Stanford University in 1990. After five years in law practice, he returned to Stanford Law School as a Teaching Fellow in 1995-96. He has taught at several universities and joined the University of Louisville in 2005.

 

We are excited to announce a new bar exam scholarship opportunity for UofL Law students!

The Joseph L. and Shannon A. Hamilton Law School Bar Review Fund will be used to make financial awards to students for whom payment of expenses related to Kentucky Bar Exam Review courses and related course materials would otherwise result in financial hardship.

Interested students must be currently enrolled (in good standing) or recent graduates of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.  A recent graduate is defined for this purpose as someone who completed law school within one year of the bar exam review course for which support is being sought.  Qualified students will be of high moral character, demonstrate excellent writing and analytical skills, and show a commitment to serious preparation for the Kentucky Bar Exam.  A candidate’s grades will be taken into account as one factor, but not the primary factor for consideration.  A successful candidate for an award must show that he or she cannot otherwise afford to pay for a Bar Exam Review Course and/or the Bar Exam review materials.

To be considered for a scholarship, you must submit the completed application and required documents to Dean Ballard by May 17, 2013.

Applications are available from Dean Ballard (Office 216), or you may email Dean Ballard to request an application via email.

As you finish your final exams this week, please take a look at the summary of scholarship and writing competition opportunities that have deadlines during the summer.  Information about all of these opportunities has been posted in the Docket over the last several weeks, but are now summarized for your convenience.  There is something for everyone - even graduating law students.  If you have questions, contact Dean Ballard at 852-8956.  Good Luck!

As you finish your final exams this week, please take a look at the summary of scholarship and writing competition opportunities that have deadlines during the summer.  Information about all of these opportunities has been posted in the Docket over the last several weeks, but are now summarized for your convenience.  There is something for everyone - even graduating law students.  If you have questions, contact Dean Ballard at 852-8956.  Good Luck!

We are excited to announce a new bar exam scholarship opportunity for UofL Law students!

The Joseph L. and Shannon A. Hamilton Law School Bar Review Fund will be used to make financial awards to students for whom payment of expenses related to Kentucky Bar Exam Review courses and related course materials would otherwise result in financial hardship.

Interested students must be currently enrolled (in good standing) or recent graduates of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.  A recent graduate is defined for this purpose as someone who completed law school within one year of the bar exam review course for which support is being sought.  Qualified students will be of high moral character, demonstrate excellent writing and analytical skills, and show a commitment to serious preparation for the Kentucky Bar Exam.  A candidate’s grades will be taken into account as one factor, but not the primary factor for consideration.  A successful candidate for an award must show that he or she cannot otherwise afford to pay for a Bar Exam Review Course and/or the Bar Exam review materials.

To be considered for a scholarship, you must submit the completed application and required documents to Dean Ballard by May 17, 2013.

Applications are available from Dean Ballard (Office 216), or you may email Dean Ballard to request an application via email.