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Writing Competitions for Law Students: Law & Technology

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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 2024 Writing Competition

  • Sponsor: Berkeley Technology Law Journal
  • Topic: "We will accept submissions from graduate-level law students on a wide variety of topics at the intersection of law and technology, including but not limited to: technology and the public interest, privacy, internet law, intellectual property, antitrust, First Amendment issues, entertainment and news media, telecommunications, biotechnology, and cybercrime."
  • Format requirements in 2024 Competition stated: "Submitted papers must be unpublished. Papers must be no more than 50 pages long, including footnotes, unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Do NOT use endnotes."
  • Eligibility requirements in 2024 Competition included: "The competition is open to all currently enrolled graduate-level law students (including J. D., L.L.M., and J.S.D. candidates, along with law students outside of the United States)."
  • Prizes in 2024 Competition were: "1st Prize: $1,000 & PUBLICATION IN THE FALL 2024 ISSUE OF BTLJ (Vol. 40 Issue 1).  2nd Prize: $500.  ALDO J. TEST AWARD: BEST BERKELEY LAW SUBMISSION: $250."
  • Deadline for submission was: April 2, 2024.

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: "This year’s topic is Emerging Biotechnologies and Their Relationships to Personal Freedoms."  "Example topics could include, but are by no means limited to: using artificial intelligence to diagnose; the use of femtech and the privacy concerns surrounding it; biotechnology and informed consent; social justice and allowing everyone access to biotech innovation; emerging reproductive technology and their relation to Dobbs; and biotech uses in the field of national security concerns."
  • Format: "Papers should be 3000-5000 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: "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: "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: "The author(s) of the first place paper will be awarded $2,000; the author(s) of the second place paper will be awarded $500."
  • Deadline for submission: "Please submit papers via email to techinstitute@law.georgetown.edu.  Submissions are due on June 3, 2024."

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

  • Sponsor: Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT)
  • Topic in most recent Competition was: "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.  We encourage creative approaches."
  • Format requirements in most recent Competition included: "Notes must be 5,000–10,000 words, not including footnotes."
  • Eligibility requirements in most recent Competition included: "Authors must be current law students pursuing a JD, LLM, or JSD at an ABA-accredited law school or alumni within one year of graduation.  Authors must not have won a previous JOLT competition."
  • Prizes in most recent Competition were: "1st Prize: $2500 and publication in our Spring 2024 issue."  "All competition submissions will be considered for publication in our Spring 2024, Volume 37 Issue."  
  • Deadline for submission in most recent Competition was: January 12, 2024.