Writing Competitions for Law Students: Civil Rights

Below is the 2024-2025 Fred Gray Civil Rights Writing Competition overview, topic guidelines, description of the submission process and summary of this competition's awards.  Competition participants needed to review the information in the document below.

Fred Gray Civil Rights Writing Competition (inaugural)

• Sponsors: "Texas Tech University School of Law has partnered with The Lanier Law Firm and the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights to offer this writing competition to law students around the nation."
• Topic in 2024-2025 Competition: "Law students are invited to submit original scholarly essays that are thematically linked to the impactful work of Fred Gray and his contributions to the civil rights movement.  Submitted essays should demonstrate thorough research, thoughtful analysis, and original insights while exploring critical civil rights issues, including but not limited to:
  • The right to vote;
  • The right to be free from racial discrimination;
  • The right to government services;
  • The right to fair treatment in the criminal justice system including at trial;
  • The right to public education; and
  • The right to gainful employment."
• Essay Length & Format were: "Essays must be between 5,000 and 8,000 words, including the title, text, and footnotes."  "All essays must be submitted as a PDF document (without any identifying information).  Please use 12-point serif font."
• Eligibility requirements were: "Any J.D. or LL.M. student—full-time or part-time—currently enrolled in an ABA-Accredited law school may submit an essay."
• Non-published Original Work: "Only non-published scholarly works may be submitted.  Please do not submit an essay that (1) has been published, (2) has been submitted for publication, or (3) will be submitted for publication before May 1, 2025.  Only single-authored essays will be accepted.  Further, a student may submit only one entry per competition year."
• 2024-2025 Competition Awards were: "As part of this inaugural writing competition, law students will be awarded the following monetary prizes for their essays:
  • First Place: $7,500 (The winning essay will also be considered for publication in the Texas Tech Law Review.)
  • Second Place: $5,000
  • Third Place: $2,500
  • The competition partners reserve the right not to award one or more of the prizes if the judges determine that the entries are not of sufficient quality to merit selection. 
  • Additional recognition:
    • All winning authors may also be invited to attend the Lanier Trial Academy in Houston, Texas, in June 2025, where they will be recognized by trial attorney Mark Lanier. Travel expenses will be covered. 
    • All winning authors will be featured on the Texas Tech University School of Law’s website and social media platforms, as well as other appropriate platforms."
• Contact for questions about the 2024-2025 Competition was: Associate Dean Wendy A. Humphrey at wendy.humphrey@ttu.edu or (806) 834-4446.
• Deadline for submission in 2024-2025 Competition was: February 28, 2025.