American Bar Association Health Law Section: Annual Health Law Student Writing Competition
- Sponsor: American Bar Association Health Law Section
- Topic: Guidelines and Criteria for the 2025 ABA Health Law Student Writing Competition state: "[A] substantive paper on any aspect of health law. Awards will be based upon authorship of superior literary effort that advances and serves the interests and understanding of an emerging issue in health law. Topic selection is one of the criteria judged."
- Format in 2025 Competition: "The paper should be an original, practical examination of issues (rather than a recitation of existing research) related to the student’s topic. Papers should either address a topic that was not previously addressed in the past two to three years in The Health Lawyer or expand on or present an alternative or new theory, angle, or perspective on a topic that was previously addressed in the journal. For a list of articles published in The Health Lawyer, go to: ambar.org/healthlawyer." "Papers should follow The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation style, and be a minimum of 20 typewritten, double-spaced, letter-size pages of text (or not less than 5,000 words of text) plus appropriate endnotes for a paper of publishable quality. Papers may not exceed 35 pages inclusive of endnotes".
- 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. But submitting written work product for consideration, contestant is affirming that he or she did not utilize AI in the preparation of the 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."
- Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition include: "[Open to any law student in good standing and currently enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school, over the age of 21 and who is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States. Directors, officers and
employees of the ABA and their immediate family or household members are not eligible."
- Prizes in 2025 Competition: "The first-place award is a $500 honorarium, consideration for publication in The Health Lawyer, the Health Law Section’s award-winning flagship journal, and attendance at the ABA’s Emerging Issues in Healthcare conference, which includes the cost of economy-class airfare, at ABA rates, hotel for two nights and a $50 per diem for two days. If the first-place recipient is unable to attend the conference, the $500 honorarium and potential publication of the article will be the sole awards." "A second-place winning paper will be named if deemed appropriate by the ABA Health Law Section. The second-place winner’s paper will be considered for publication in The Health Lawyer, but no cash or travel award will be presented to the second-place winner. Additional runners-up may be named at the discretion of the ABA Health Law Section. Additional awards, if any, will be recognized in The Health Lawyer and may be published in the journal."
- Deadline for submission: "Each contestant must send one copy of the paper, resume and interest statement via email by 12:00 p.m. (Central Standard Time), December 19, 2025, to: Alyssa Ewing, Director, ABA Health Law Section at alyssa.ewing@americanbar.org."
[Tenth] Annual AUWCL National Health Law Writing Competition
- Sponsor: Health Law and Policy Program, American University Washington College of Law
- Topic in 2025 Competition was: "Papers must address and analyze health law and/or food/drug/device law issues. Papers that analyze antitrust or tax laws, employee benefits and/or labor considerations in the health care industry are eligible. By contrast, a paper that focuses mainly on analysis of intellectual property or environmental laws/statutes, even if relating to health or the health care industry, will not be eligible."
- Format requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Paper" "Page length between a minimum of 15 and maximum of 25 pages (exclusive of the endnotes)"
- Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Current (academic school year 2024-2025) 2L, 3L, and 4L (evening/part-time) JD and LL.M. students enrolled in a U.S. law school at the time of paper submission are eligible to participate."
- Prizes in 2025 Competition were: "First Place: $1,500. Second Place: $1,000. Third Place: $500." "Certificates of Participation will be awarded to all participants."
- Deadline for submission in 2025 Competition was: May 5, 2025.
Fifth Annual Health Law and Anti-Racism Graduate Student Writing Competition
- Sponsor: American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics (ASLME)
- Topic in 2025 Competition was: "[S]cholarly papers focused on issues at the intersection of race, law, and health." Note: This ASLME web page provides "a non-exhaustive list of potential paper topics."
- Format requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Papers should be between 15-20 double-spaced pages, including references (endnotes, not footnotes), and should include an abstract of no more than 250 words. Submissions may be adapted from papers submitted for course credit and will be judged on the basis of their originality, relevance, nexus to both health law and anti-racism, clarity, and potential for scholarly impact."
- Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Current graduate students in any field are invited to participate, including those graduating in Spring 2025, even if graduation occurs before the submission deadline. ASLME membership is not required. Co-authored submissions are welcome (up to 3 co-authors), provided all co-authors are individually eligible."
- Prize(s) in 2025 Competition were: "The winning paper(s) may be invited for publication in the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, if not already slated for publication elsewhere. Papers may be required to undertake edits prior to publication. The 1st Prize winner(s) will also be provided with a 1-year ASLME membership and a prize of $500."
- Deadline for submission in 2025 Competition was: August 1, 2025.
H. Thomas Austern Writing Competition
- Sponsor: Food & Drug Law Institute
- Topic in 2025 Competition was: "Paper topics are limited to FDA and regulated agencies’ laws and regulations. Topical focus should be on FDA-regulated industries: food, drugs, animal drugs, biologics, cosmetics, diagnostics, dietary supplements, medical devices, veterinary devices, cannabis, or tobacco and nicotine products."
- 2025 Competition description stated: "We do accept submissions that have been submitted to other writing contests. However, articles must be unpublished at the time of judging in order to remain in consideration for the competition. Articles that have been accepted for forthcoming publication will still be eligible for placement in the competition but will not be considered for publication in the Food and Drug Law Journal. Published papers will be disqualified from the Austern Competition." "We encourage students interested in submitting to the Austern Writing Competition to apply for our complimentary Student Membership Program. This program is available to full-time students of accredited universities and provides access to member benefits as well as student-only discounts and programs."
- Format requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Papers shall not exceed 100 pages (assuming double spacing, one-inch margins). "Students will submit an abstract."
- Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Students currently enrolled in a JD program at any of the nation’s ABA-accredited law schools and 2024–2025 academic year graduates are eligible to participate."
- Prizes in 2025 Competition were: "Top papers will receive a monetary prize. Winners are awarded: $1,000 for first place, $750 for second, and $500 for third."
- Deadline for submission was: July 18, 2025.
Health Law Writing Competition (annual)
- Sponsor: Epstein Becker Green
- Topic in 2025 Competition was: "Papers must address an issue relating to health law. Papers may address traditional areas of the law as applied to the health care field (e.g., antitrust, tax or corporate) or may address areas of law unique to the health care field (e.g., fraud and abuse, managed care, Medicare/Medicaid, clinical trials, telehealth/telemedicine)."
- Format requirements in 2025 Competition included: "Scholarly papers" "[P]apers must be 30 pages or less, excluding table of contents and cover pages, if any. All papers must conform to the Bluebook legal citation guide."
- Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition included: "The Health Law Writing Competition is open to submissions written by J.D. and L.L.M. degree candidates who are currently attending a U.S. law school or who attended a U.S. law school during the school year ending in May/June 2024, and who have a U.S. Social Security number and a U.S. mailing address."
- Prizes in 2025 Competition were: "The author of the first place entry will receive a cash award of $7,500; the author of the second place entry will receive a cash award of $4,000; and the author of the third place entry will receive a cash award of $1,000. If a winning paper has more than one author, the prize will be split equally among the co-authors. The judges may elect, at their discretion, to award honorable mention prizes."
- Deadline for submission in 2025 Competition was: May 16, 2025.
Hirsh Student Writing Competition in Legal Medicine (annual)
- Sponsor: American College of Legal Medicine
- Topic of 2025 Competition was: "The Hirsh Writing Competition is an annual competition sponsored by the American College of Legal Medicine (ACLM) that provides an opportunity for any student to present their research on topics related to legal medicine."
- Format requirements in 2025 Competition included: "There is no word count limit, but articles under 25,000 words, including footnotes, are preferred."
- Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition included: "All eligible authors must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or postgraduate school in the United States or Canada. All students are encouraged to compete, particularly those studying medicine, law, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, podiatry, healthcare administration, public health, or other healthcare fields."
- Prizes in 2025 Competition were: "The writer of the winning paper will be presented the Hirsh Award and will receive $1,000.00, round trip economy airfare to Houston, one-night hotel accommodations during the conference, and conference registration to attend the ACLM 2025 Annual Conference where they will have an opportunity to present the paper, receive the award, and meet with experts in the field of legal medicine. The winning paper will be published in The Journal of Legal Medicine, and all other papers entered for the Hirsh Award will receive consideration for publication in The Journal of Legal Medicine. The second-place winner will receive $500.00. The third-place winner will receive $250.00. The top three winners will receive complimentary one-year membership in the American College of Legal Medicine and will be invited to serve on the 2026 Student Awards Committee."
- Deadline for submission in 2025 Competition was: January 15, 2025.
Larry M. Simonsmeier Writing Award
- Sponsor: American Society for Pharmacy Law
- Topic in 2025 was: "Papers related to Pharmacy Law ...." "The American Society for Pharmacy Law (ASPL) is a nationwide organization with the purposes of: (i) furthering knowledge in the law related to pharmacists, pharmacies, the provision of pharmaceutical care, the manufacturing and distribution of drugs, and other food, drug, and medical device policy issues ("Pharmacy Law"); (ii) communicating accurate legal educational information; and (iii) providing education opportunities for pharmacists, attorneys, and others who are interested in Pharmacy Law."
- Format & Eligibility requirements for 2025 Award included: "Papers related to Pharmacy Law, as defined above, published in or accepted for publication in any English-language peer-reviewed journal (including law reviews) during the period from January 2023 through December 2024 are eligible. Interested parties are invited to nominate published papers written by themselves or other authors. Authors may submit manuscripts that are in press."
- 2025 Award was: "The 2025 Award includes an honorarium plus support for travel to the ASPL Developments in Pharmacy Law Seminar XXXVI in Fort Lauderdale, FL November 6-9, 2025."
- Deadline for submission of nominations for the Larry M. Simonsmeier Award was: June 30, 2025.
Roy Snell Health Care Regulatory and Compliance Writing Competition
- Sponsor: Mitchell Hamline School of Law & "The Roy Snell Health Care Regulatory & Compliance Writing Competition is made possible in part by generous support from the Health Care Compliance Association."
- Topic: "[T]his demanding competition requires students to analyze a hypothetical fact pattern (the Competition Problem) involving an organization facing multifaceted health care regulatory/compliance matters and draft two separate internal memoranda to two different recipients within the organization."
- Format of the 2025 Competition included: "Students must analyze the facts presented, identify all regulatory/compliance concerns and advise the recipients of the two written work products."
- Eligibility requirements in the 2024 Competition included: "The competition is open to all full and part-time law students in J.D. programs who have completed their 1L year. The competition is also open to any student currently enrolled in a Compliance Certification Board (CCB) accredited program."
- Prizes for the 2025 Competition were: "The top three winners will receive a monetary prize for their work and paid registration for the 2026 HCCA Annual Compliance Institute (valued at over $1,500). They will also receive up to $1,500 in travel and conference-related expenses." "1st Place — $5,000 cash prize. 2nd Place — $3,000 cash prize. 3rd Place — $1,500 cash prize."
- Deadlines: Registration for the 2025 Competition is closed. The 2025 Competition ran Monday, February 3rd until Monday, March 17th, 2025.
