Skip to Main Content

Writing Competitions for Law Students

Tip

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.  

Women & Law

Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition (annual)

  • Sponsor: National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)
  • Prompt: "Submit a paper identifying a legal issue that relates to NAWL's mission. The mission of NAWL is to provide leadership, a collective voice, and essential resources to advance women in the legal profession and advocate for the equality of women under the law." 
  • Format requirements in 2026 Competition include: "Essays must be double-spaced in 12-point, Times New Roman font.  All margins must be one inch.  Entries must provide a cover page providing the author’s name, the title of the essay, school affiliation, email address, phone number, and permanent mailing address.  Entries must not exceed fifteen (15) pages of text, excluding notes, with footnotes placed as endnotes.  Citation style should conform to The Bluebook – A Uniform System of Citation.  Essays longer than 15 pages of text, excluding notes, or that are not in the required format will not be considered."
  • Eligibility requirements in 2026 Competition include: "Essays are accepted from students enrolled and in good standing at an ABA-accredited law school.  The essays must be the law student author’s own work and must not have been submitted for publication elsewhere.  Papers written for coursework or independent study are eligible for submission."

  • Reward in 2026 Competition: "The author of the winning essay will receive a cash prize of $500.  NAWL will also publish the winning essay in the Spring/Summer issue of the Women Lawyers Journal.  Additionally, the winning law student will be awarded a complimentary ticket to NAWL’s Annual Meeting, along with a fully covered hotel stay to attend the event." 

  • Deadline in 2026 Competition: "Entries are due April 17, 2026 (the third Friday in April each year). Entries received after the deadline will not be considered. Entries must be submitted via email as a Microsoft Word document to odafaalla@nawl.org."