THE AMERICAN COLLEGE
OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COUNSEL
is pleased to
announce the
THIRTEENTH ANNUAL
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS WRITING PRIZE
SUBJECT: Any topic in the field of employee benefits
law.
OPEN TO: Any J.D. and graduate (L.L.M. or S.J.D.) law
students enrolled at
any time between August 15, 2016 and August 15, 2017.
SUBMIT BY: June 1, 2017
UP TO TWO PRIZES: Alvin D.
Lurie Memorial Award $1,500
Sidney
M. Perlstadt Memorial Award $1,500
Winners will be
honored during the College’s annual black tie dinner on October 14, 2017 in San
Francisco, CA. They will receive a
plaque and an employee benefits treatise published by Bloomberg BNA Books. The
winning papers will also be distributed to the Fellows of the American College
of Employee Benefits Counsel, experienced attorneys who have made significant
contributions to the advancement of the employee benefits field in a wide range
of practice settings including law and consulting firms, universities, labor
unions, advocacy organizations and government agencies throughout the United
States. The College will also use its
best efforts to have one or more of the winning papers published in the
Benefits Law Journal or another professional or scholarly publication, if
deemed suitable by the College's Writing Prize Committee and the editors of the
publication.
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
COUNSEL
Writing Prize Rules
1. Eligibility/Topics.
Except as provided in (6) below, applicants must be enrolled full-time
or part-time in law school between August 15, 2016 and August 15, 2017 and
seeking a J.D. or a graduate law degree (e.g., L.L.M. or S.J.D.). Papers must deal with employee benefits
topics. As an illustrative example, a
paper might address legal issues involving health benefits, pensions, 401(k)
plans, severance, executive compensation, claims, appeals, current or former
spouses’ or domestic partners’ benefits, collectively-bargained benefits,
benefits in bankruptcy, ERISA litigation, fiduciary obligations or the tax
treatment of benefits/contributions.
a. Papers should not exceed 40 pages
(double-spaced, in 12 point type, with an inch margin on each side), not
including footnotes.
b.
Papers must be submitted as email
attachments to
brian.dougherty@morganlewis.com
and should be submitted as Word or pdf documents.
No information identifying the author or law
school should be included in the text, the footnotes, or the filename.
That information, an address, a telephone
number and enrollment status information should be provided in the email
message.
c. Submissions may include papers prepared
for class assignments, law journals or other purposes, as well as those written
especially for the Prize.
d. Student papers submitted for
publication in law reviews or other law school journals or periodicals but not
yet published are eligible for the Prize, provided that (i) the version
submitted for the Prize does not reflect any changes made to the paper after
submission of the manuscript to any publication and (ii) the College receives
any consents necessary to publish or republish the article.
2.
Selection of
Winners. Winning papers will be
selected by the Writing Prize Committee based on the factors they deem
relevant. Among other factors, the
Committee will consider: (i) depth and creativity of legal analysis; (ii)
thoroughness of legal research; (iii) organization and writing style; (iv)
difficulty of subject matter; and (v) consideration of employee benefits policy
implications. A focused, in depth
analysis of a discrete topic generally is considered more favorably than a
broad survey piece. Presentation (e.g.,
organization, proofreading, proper grammar, etc.) also carries substantial
weight. The Committee may decline to
consider a poorly organized paper or one laden with grammatical errors for
those reasons alone. The determination
of the Committee is final. It is
anticipated that winners will be notified by July 21, 2017, or shortly
thereafter.
3.
Publication of
Winning Articles(s). The College
will use its best efforts to arrange for publication of the winning papers in a
professional or scholarly publication, if deemed suitable by the Writing Prize
Committee and the publication's editors.
In addition, the winning papers will be posted on the College’s
website.
4.
Prizes. There are cash awards for two winning
papers. However, the College may, in its
discretion, decide to split prizes, to award additional prizes or to award
fewer than two prizes. Winners will be
guests of the College during its annual black tie dinner to be held on October
16, 2017 in San Francisco, CA. The
College covers the travel and lodging expenses for the prize recipients.
5.
Deadline. Papers must be submitted in the manner
described in paragraph 1(b) above and must be received no later than Midnight,
Eastern Time, on June 1, 2017.
6.
Disclaimer. The College disclaims responsibility for any
failure to give due consideration to any submission due to any email or other
electronic transmission, storage or archival errors, regardless of the cause. However, the Committee may waive the
eligibility requirements applicable to any student whose submitted paper was
not afforded due consideration on account of such an error in a prior year’s
contest.
Questions concerning the
Competition should be directed to Brian Dougherty, Chair of the ACEBC Writing
Prize Committee at brian.dougherty@morganlewis.com.
