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.
Legal Malpractice Law & Lawyers' Professional Liability
Format in 2025 was: "Entries should be written as scholarly essays." "Entrants must use the American Bar Association's Model Rule[s] of Professional Conduct for their essays."
Essay requirements for 2025 Edward C. Mendrzycki Award included: "Entries should be written as scholarly essays. All entries must be prepared originally for this contest and must not be previously published in any format. Each entrant is required to assign to the ABA all rights, title, and interest in the essay submitted. It is the policy of the ABA, however, to release all assigned rights in all but the winning essay. Essays should not exceed 3,000 words, including quoted matter and citations. Footnotes are not permitted, and citations should be incorporated into the main text."
Eligibility requirements for 2025 Edward C. Mendrzycki Award included: "The contest is open to Young Lawyers Division or Law Student Division members of the American Bar Association, in good standing as of February 3, 2025, as indicated in the membership records of the Association. Excluded from the competition are: previous winners; current ABA officers and members of the Board of Governors; employees of the ABA or its sections, divisions, and committees; and officers and employees of the American Bar Foundation or the American Bar Endowment. Only one essay may be submitted by each entrant. No co-authored essays will be accepted."
Prize for winner of the 2025 Edward C. Mendrzycki Award was: "A cash prize of $5,000.00. Round-trip airfare and two-night stay at the Omni Charlotte Hotel to attend the Spring 2025 National Legal Malpractice Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. Complimentary registration to attend all educational programming sessions at the Spring 2025 National Legal Malpractice Conference."
