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Writing Competitions for Law Students

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Sponsors/facilitators of student writing competitions provide more detailed instructions and rules at their websites.  Students need to review the information and rules available at these websites.  

Law & Technology

Berkeley Technology Law Journal 2025 Writing Competition

  • Sponsor: Berkeley Technology Law Journal (BTLJ)
  • Topic in 2025 Writing Competition was: "We accept submissions from law students (including J.D., L.L.M., and J.S.D. candidates, along with law students outside of the United States) on a wide variety of topics at the intersection of law and technology.  These topics include but are not limited to technology and the public interest, privacy, internet law, intellectual property, antitrust and trade regulation, First Amendment issues, entertainment and news media, telecommunications, biotechnology, cybersecurity, and cybercrime."
  • Format requirements in 2025 Writing Competition stated: "We will not consider papers that have been previously published."  "We would expect submissions to be no more than 50 double-spaced pages long, including footnotes, assuming standard font.  Further formatting instructions can be found on the cover sheet."
  • Eligibility requirements in 2025 Writing Competition included: "We accept submissions from law students (including J.D., L.L.M., and J.S.D. candidates, along with law students outside of the United States)...."
  • Prizes in 2025 Writing Competition were: "The first-place prize winner’s Student Note will be scheduled for editing and tentative publication in BTLJ Volume 41, Issue 1, and the Author will receive $1000.  The second-place prize winner will receive $500.  In addition, the best submission from a current Berkeley Law student will receive a prize of $250, known as the 'Aldo Award.'"
  • Deadline for submission in 2025 Competition was: March 31, 2025.

Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy + Georgetown Law Technology Review Writing Competition (annual)

  • Sponsors: Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy + Georgetown Law Technology Review
  • Topic in 2025 Writing Competition was: "Students are invited to submit papers that provide analysis or insights on issues at the intersection of technology law and policy.  Example topics could include artificial intelligence, antitrust and consumer protection, biotechnology, computer crime, cybersecurity, digital platform regulation, intellectual privacy, international trade, and social justice applications of technology."
  • Format requirements in 2025 Writing Competition included: "Papers should be 3000-8000 words long (not including footnotes) and be submitted in Times New Roman size 12 font, single spaced. Footnotes must conform to the 20th edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Papers must be in English."
  • Eligibility requirements in 2025 Writing Competition included: "Papers will be accepted from students enrolled at any ABA-accredited law school in the United States during the 2024-2025 academic year.  The paper must be the author’s own work, although students may incorporate feedback received as part of an academic course or supervised writing project.  The paper must not have been published or committed for publication in another journal; the Georgetown Law Technology Review must have the first right of publication for any winning essay.  Publication of winning papers in the Georgetown Law Technology Review is not guaranteed, and is up to the discretion of the editorial board."
  • Criteria for evaluation included: "Papers will be evaluated based on thoroughness of research and analysis, relevance to the competition topic, relevance to current legal and/or public policy debates, originality of thought, and clarity of expression."
  • Prizes in 2025 Writing Competition were: "The author(s) of the first place paper will be awarded $1,000.  The author(s) of the top paper on an artificial intelligence related topic will be awarded $1,000."
  • Deadline for submission in 2025 Writing Competition was: June 6, 2025.

Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT), JOLT Student Note Competition

  • Sponsors: Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT)
  • Topics in 2025 Competition were: "Submissions should engage with novel issues at the intersection of law and technology.  Topics may include, but are not limited to: cybercrime, biotechnology, space law, entertainment and news media, comparative legal approaches to intellectual property, the law of the Internet, and technology in the public interest."
  • Format requirements in 2025 JOLT Student Note Competition included: "Notes must fulfill the following conditions:
    • Notes must be 4,000–8,000 words, not including footnotes.
    • Notes must not be simultaneously submitted for consideration at another publication venue.jolt.law.harvard.edu

    • Sample student notes are available on jolt.law.harvard.edu. Please feel free to consult them as you prepare your submission."

  • Eligibility requirements in 2025 JOLT Student Note Competition included: "Student note authors must fulfill the following conditions: Authors must be one of the following:

    • a current law student enrolled in either 1) a program at an ABA-accredited law school, or 2) a law degree program at any non-U.S. university;
    • an alumnus within one year of graduation from any of the programs above; or
    • a current student supervised by a faculty member at an ABA-accredited law school or by the law faculty of an international university.
    • Authors must not have won a previous JOLT competition."

  • Use of AI Policy stated: "Authors may use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in the writing process, so long as all such usage is disclosed. Authors must document any use of AI tools in the title page footnote, e.g., “ChatGPT was used for copy-editing.”  Please disclose both the tool(s) used (e.g., ChatGPT) as well as all functions for which those tools were used (e.g., copy-editing, drafting, figure generation, citation formatting, research, etc.).  Failure to disclose the use of such tools may be considered against a submission.  All authors are ultimately responsible for the content of their submissions, and all submissions are subject to our evaluation criteria as described [at the JOLT competition's website].  Thus, submissions that cite non-existent sources or are missing citations/sources, that insufficiently engage with the current literature, that are not stylistically effective, that plagiarize from other sources, etc., will be evaluated accordingly."

  • Prizes in 2025 were: "Each winner will receive a $1,000 cash award, and each winning note will be invited to publish in JOLT’s Volume 39, Issue 1."

  • Deadline for submission was: July 15, 2025.