Writing Competitions for Law Students

This guide identifies writing competitions available to Brooklyn Law School (BLS) students.  It also highlights other opportunities for BLS students to present scholarly work.  There are 3 ways to find competitions: the "search this guide" box (top right); the subject tabs (left frame); and the Writing Competition Deadlines tab (left frame) which lists competitions by date.  BLS Library provides nearly 60 research guides that could help you to identify new developments in a legal subject area.

BLS librarians frequently update this guide.  Please reload this web page each time you visit.  Contact librarian Jean Davis (jean.davis@brooklaw.edu) if you wish to provide information about a writing competition for law students.

• Sponsors of writing competitions provide more detailed instructions and rules at their websites. 
• Note whether a competition requires submission of an entry form that predates submission of an entry.
• Review carefully the description of a competition's topic, student eligibility/authorship criteria, standards for evaluating submissions, format for submissions (including word minimum/maximum), rules and deadline.  
  • Competition rules vary greatly.  Follow a competition's rules to ensure consideration of your submission.    
    • Some competitions' rules now permit the use of generative artificial intelligence in the research phase and prohibit the use of all generative artificial intelligence in the writing or editing phase.  Read each competition's rules to see if the rules discuss artificial intelligence.
  • Regarding "any portion of any [Brooklyn Law School] assignment, competition, or exam," review: Brooklyn Law School Code of Academic Responsibility: G. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GENERALLY PROHIBITED.
• Check whether the competition provides a list of past winners/their topics. 
• Note whether a competition requires or recommends use of a specific style manual like The Bluebook.
• Do not be discouraged if a competition requires (or encourages) law student membership in an organization. 
  • The "Starting Points" page of BLS Library's Career Research guide describes how to join the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association for free.  A law student can join 5 free ABA groups.
  • A competition's guidelines might describe how to apply to an organization for complimentary student membership (example: description of Food and Drug Law Institute's H. Thomas Austern Writing Competition encourages competition participants to apply for its complimentary Student Membership Program).
  • A competition's guidelines might describe how to apply to an organization for a waiver of a law student membership fee.
• Information on the annual Writing Competition for BLS students who wish to be considered for membership on the staff of BLS student-run journals appears in BLSConnect > Academics > Honor Societies and Journals > Writing Competition. 
  • Tab: Links & Resources includes: Journal Information Session 2025 + 2025 Case Comment Writing Workshop (video) + slides from Associate Librarian/Adjunct Professor Kathy Darvil's presentation: Bluebooking: Journal Style (which was part of the 2025 Case Comment Writing Workshop) + Thesis Development and Plagiarism Discussion with BLS faculty (Sept. 6, 2024)