1.31.2017

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Bar Association Annual Law Student Writing Competition

On behalf of the United States Court of Federal Claims Bar Association, I am pleased to announce the annual 2016-17 Law Student Writing Competition, featuring a cash prize of $3,500 for the winning entry.  All students enrolled in your school (including recent graduates during the 2016-17 academic year) are eligible to participate in this competition.   In addition to the cash prize, the winning entry will be published via the Association’s newsletter and website, and will also be considered for publication in the Federal Circuit Bar Journal.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Bar Association Annual Law Student Writing Competition

The United States Court of Federal Claims Bar Association announces that its annual Law Student Writing Competition for the 2016-2017 academic year is underway.  The Court of Federal Claims Bar Association is a non-profit, voluntary bar association made up of nationwide members who practice law in the areas that lie within the specialized jurisdiction of the United States Court of Federal Claims.  The goal of this competition is to encourage law student scholarship on current topics that lie within the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Federal Claims.  The winning entry in the competition will receive a $3,500 cash prize and an opportunity to be published via the Association’s website.

The United States Court of Federal Claims was created pursuant to Article I of the United States Constitution in October 1982, by the Federal Courts Improvement Act.  The court is authorized to hear primarily money claims founded upon the Constitution, federal statutes, executive regulations, or contracts with the United States.

The cases before the court are diverse and involve a variety of statutes.  They include claims arising from tax refunds, government contracts, Fifth Amendment takings (which can implicate environmental and natural resource issues), Federal procurement “bid protests,” Federal civilian and military pay matters, intellectual property disputes, Native American tribal rights, and the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation program.

Entries to the contest may address any topic that lies within the procedure, substance, or scope of the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Federal Claims.  The rules of the contest are posted on the Association’s website at: http://www.cfcbar.org/writing-competition

Entry deadline is July 14, 2017.


For more information about the competition, please visit http://www.cfcbar.org/writing-competition.

1.30.2017

WHY PIPELINE PROGRAMS TARGETING STUDENTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED RACIAL AND ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE FUTURE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION

The Law School Admission Council's Diversity Committee Announces a Writing Competition on
WHY PIPELINE PROGRAMS TARGETING STUDENTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED RACIAL AND ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE FUTURE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION
To Promote Diversity in Law Schools and in the Legal Profession
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is committed to fostering diversity in law schools and the legal profession. Currently, through its Diversity Committee, LSAC sponsors and funds a number of initiatives aimed at increasing the diversity of the legal profession. These initiatives include organizing national and regional pipeline workshops that promote the development of outreach and early educational programs for students from diverse backgrounds; offering grants to support diversity initiatives at LSAC-member law schools; maintaining databases and websites such as DiscoverLaw.org with information, resources, and programs that encourage students of color, students living with a disability, and LGBTQ students to pursue a legal career and equip them with the tools for successful admission and graduation from law school; and engaging in ongoing collaborative programs and projects with prelaw advisors and students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACUs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).
For decades, studies consistently have shown that students of color, students living with a disability, and LGBTQ students are underrepresented in most law schools. As a consequence, smaller percentages of persons who represent these groups are graduating from law school and entering the legal profession. This writing competition is designed to reinvigorate the dialogue about the recruitment and retention strategies that law schools should deploy to yield a more diverse class of graduates who will enter the legal profession.

ENTRY PROCEDURES
Include a cover page with your submission. The cover should only contain the author's name, title of the paper, mailing address, law school affiliation, law school status (lL, 2L, 3L/4L), a telephone number where the author may easily be reached, and an email address.
To allow anonymous evaluations, please do not put your name on the actual paper.
The title on the paper must precisely match the title on the cover page that contains the identifying information described above.
Email entries to DiversityOffice@LSAC.org. Only electronic files (PDF or Word) will be accepted.


JUDGING
A panel of law school faculty, legal writing instructors, and LSAC diversity committee members will evaluate each submission and select the winning papers. If no paper meets the standards set forth in this announcement, the panel may decide either not to issue an award or publish a paper. The panel's decision will be final.

DEADLINE
All papers must be sent no later than 5:00 PM EST on Friday, March 31, 2017. No extensions will be granted under any circumstances. Papers submitted after the deadline will not be eligible for an award. All submissions become the property of LSAC, and LSAC will retain the copyright of any winning papers selected for publication.
Topic: Why Pipeline Programs Targeting Students from Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Backgrounds Are Essential to the Future of the Legal Profession.

Eligibility: Current JD candidates who are in good standing at LSAC -` member law schools


Length and Format: Up to 20 pages (5,000 words or less), 81⁄2 by 11 inch paperdouble spaced, 1-inch margins, Word format, 12-point font, with endnotes written in "A Uniform System of Citation" (The Blue Book) format 

Evaluation Criteria
Essays will be judged according to:
Research and use of relevant sources and authorities (cases; law review articles; other secondary sources, including, but not limited to, books, newspapers, and magazines; and empirical and sociological studies)
Quality and clarity of legal analysis, persuasion, and writing
Understanding, interpretations, and conclusions regarding diversity and the implications of diversity in this context
Full compliance with all competition procedures
One winning paper will be selected from each of the three (3) qualifying categories of eligible students (1L, 2L, 3L/4L). Each winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize and the winning essays will be posted at DiscoverLaw.org. In addition, one winning paper will be submitted for publication in the Journal of Legal Education or similar publication.
Please send your inquiries to the LSAC Diversity Initiatives Office – DiversityOffice@LSAC.org

THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COUNSEL THIRTEENTH ANNUAL EMPLOYEE BENEFITS WRITING PRIZE


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.

For information concerning the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, contact Brian Dougherty at brian.dougherty@morganlewis.com or consult the website at www.acebc.com. 


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.