American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER): Law Student Writing Competitions (5 competition topic categories) - see: American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources: 2025 Law Student Writing Competition Official Rules.
- Sponsor: Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources of the American Bar Association
- Topics in 2025 Competition were: "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) Biodiversity, (2) Energy Law and/or Resource Recovery, (3) Forest Resources and Public Land, (4) Indigenous Law, (5) Water Law. Each entrant must select one of the five competition topics to write on. The topics are intended to be broad to stimulate creativity of thought and research. The decision of whether a particular essay qualifies as to subject matter is entirely within the discretion of the Section."
- Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition included: "The Competition is open to any law student who, at the time of entry, (1) is enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school during the academic year of the Competition, (2) is a legal resident of the United States, and (3) is at least 18 years old. Directors, officers, and employees of the ABA and their immediate family or household members are not eligible." "All submissions must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant." "Submissions must not have been previously published in any media."
- Note: "The ABA prohibits the use of all generative artificial intelligence, including large language models, to create any portion of a contestant’s written submission for this competition whether in the research, writing, or editing phase. Generative AI in this context includes, but is not limited to, OpenAI’s “GPT” series, BLOOM, Jasper, BERT, Galactica, and Lex. Note that for these purposes, AI does not include basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references, etc. By submitting an entry, contestants are affirming that they did not utilize AI in the preparation of their written work product. The ABA reserves the right to screen submissions for use of AI through an AI detector. Contestants utilizing AI to generate their work product in whole or in part will be disqualified."
- Prizes in 2025 Competition were: "The first-place winner in each of the five topic categories will receive a $1,000 cash prize. The winners will be announced on the Section’s website. At the sole discretion of the Sponsor, the winning essay may be posted on the Section website."
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Deadline for submission in 2025 Competition was: May 31, 2025.
American Bar Association Section of State, Local, and Tribal Government Law: SLTG Young Lawyer/ Law Student Writing Competition (annual)
- Sponsor: Section of State, Local, and Tribal Government Law of the American Bar Association
- Topic: "The Urban Lawyer Journal (TUL) welcomes submissions of Articles, Comments, Notes, Essays, and Student Notes on issues of significance in state, local, regional or tribal government law or urban legal affairs, including, without limitation the areas of land use, housing, environmental and energy law, ethics, local government, civil rights, employment, labor, public education, elections and voting rights, emergency management, resiliency, public contracts, public finance, the sharing economy and construction law."
- Eligibility requirements include: "Who is eligible: Law Students, Young Lawyers, Paralegals, Affiliated Professionals."
- Deadline for submission: "Articles are due to the Section by January 15, and the winners would be announced by February 15." "Submit articles to: statelocal@americanbar.org."
American Indian Law Review National Writing Competition
- Sponsor: University of Oklahoma College of Law
- Topic of 2025-2026 Competition: Papers on "any legal issue specifically concerning American Indians or other indigenous peoples."
- Format: "Papers" "Entries must be a minimum of 20 double-spaced pages in length and a maximum of 50 double-spaced pages in length exclusive of footnotes and endnotes. All citations should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.)."
- Eligibility requirements in 2025-2026 Competition include: "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 Friday, February 27, 2026. Editors of the American Indian Law Review are not eligible to compete."
- Prizes: "The winning entry receives $1,500 and publication by the American Indian Law Review, an official periodical of the University of Oklahoma College of Law with international readership. The winning author will also be awarded an eBook copy of Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law, provided by LexisNexis."
- Deadline for submission in 2025-2026 Competition: "All emailed entries must be received no later than 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, February 27, 2026."
Hager Prize
- Sponsor: The Sovereignty Symposium
- Topic in 2026 Competition: The Hager Prize "will be awarded for the best writing, either student or Symposium faculty, on the ICWA or any legal issue concerning Native American children."
- Format requirements in 2026 Competition include: "The entries in the writing competitions must not be more than fifty (50) single-spaced pages in length." "The paper used shall be 8-1/2” x 11” in size." "Use a 12-point font in Times New Roman format. The left and right margins must be 2”; the top and bottom margins must be 1.5”."
- Note About Eligibility: Based on a March 26, 2024 email reply, a law student could submit "a class paper or similar." Regarding a note or something similar written for a law review or law journal: the law student should contact Lori Harless. "If you have any questions, call Lori Harless at (405) 208-5017."
- Hager Prize in 2026 Competition: "$1,000" "The winning entry will also be published in the 2026 Symposium book."
- Deadline for submission in 2026 Competition: March 27, 2026.
Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Law and Policy Student Writing Competition ("The competition is being held in connection with a one-day symposium on the topic “Navigating Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal: From Science to Regulation” which will be co-hosted by the Sabin Center and New York Sea Grant in September 2025.")
- Topic in 2025 Competition was: "[A] writing competition for law students interested in writing on legal and policy issues associated with marine carbon dioxide removal." "Submitted articles should discuss legal and/or policy topics related to marine carbon dioxide removal. Topics discussed could include international governance of marine carbon dioxide removal, domestic regulation, tribal rights, and environmental justice, among others."
- Format requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Articles should be 15,000 words in length. References should be cited in footnotes and conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation."
- Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Law students." "To enter, students must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States."
- Prizes in 2025 Competition were: "The winning article will be published in a special issue of the Sea Grant Law & Policy Journal, an online, scholarly publication of the National Sea Grant Law Center that will accompany the symposium. The winning author will also be invited to attend the symposium in New York to present their work. The top two pieces will each receive a cash prize of $500. Additional submissions that do not win may still be published if they meet editorial standards."
- Deadline in 2025 Competition was: June 15, 2025.
National Native American Law Students Association Writing Competition (annual) + National Native American Law Students Association 2024-25 Law Student Writing Competition Official Rules [from prior competition]
- Sponsor and hosts of 2025-26 Writing Competition: "The National NALSA Writing Competition is sponsored by the National Native American Law Students Association ('National NALSA'). For the 2025-26 academic year, the University of Colorado - Boulder and its Law Review will host the Competition in collaboration Colorado’s Native American Law Students Association (“NALSA”) chapter. The goal of the Competition is to encourage law students to become involved with National NALSA and increase awareness and education regarding legal issues that impact Native Nations, Inter-tribal organizations, and Indigenous communities."
- 11/08/2025: Website states: "Submission deadline will be announced at a later date."
- Topic in 2024-25 Competition was: "Submissions for the Competition is limited to your original writing on a question of legal and/or policy significance related to the field of Indigenous Peoples law. This can include, but is not limited to, topic areas relating to Native Nations, InterTribal organizations, and Indigenous communities. The decision of whether a particular essay qualifies as to subject matter is entirely within the discretion of the Host."
- Submission requirements in 2024-25 Competition included: "All submissions must be the original, unpublished work of the participant. Any relevant article or essay may be submitted for the Competition, including writing submitted for academic credit. Submissions must not have been previously published in any media. Only one essay may be submitted to the Competition by each participant. Failure to submit an original essay will result in disqualification and may result in the selection of a new winner. Please note that artificial intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Lexis+ AI, etc.) are permitted for limited use, but all work should remain primarily the author’s, and all information should be properly cite checked and cross-referenced." "Essays must be in Word or PDF format on 8-½ x 11-inch paper, double-spaced, with one-
inch margins, 12-point type (10-point for footnotes, single-spaced, which must be in Bluebook format), and should be roughly 20-30 pages in length."
- Eligibility in 2024-25 Competition: 2024-2025 Official Rules stated: "The Competition is open to any law student who, at the time of entry in the Competition, (1) is enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school during the academic year of the Competition, (2) is a member in good standing with National NALSA and, if applicable, active in their local NALSA chapter, (3) have met all financial obligations of membership in National NALSA as well as their local NALSA chapter, (4) is a legal resident of the United States, and (5) is at least 18 years old."
- Prizes in 2024-25 Competition were: "The top three essays will each receive a cash prize. The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize. The second-place winner will receive a $750 cash prize. The third-place winner will receive a $250 cash prize. All three winners will be published in the American Indian Law Journal ('AILJ') and must agree to the terms of publication. Any questions related to publication in the AILJ may be directed to AILJ1@seattleu.edu. Winners will be solely responsible for reporting and payment of all taxes (federal, state, local, and other) on prizes."
- Deadline for submission in 2025-26 Competition: "Submission deadline will be announced at a later date."
