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The Office of Professional Development blog is your resource for up to the minute news, advice, and information relating to your career and professional development.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Labor and Employment Lawyers Annual Law Student Writing Competition

American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law and
The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
Annual Law Student Writing Competition for 2013-2014

The ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law and The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers are pleased to announce their 2013-2014 writing competition. This competition is open to articles written while the author is a student at an accredited law school in the United States. Authors may not have graduated from law school prior to December 1, 2013. Graduate students in law school (LL.M. candidates) are not eligible. Entries may address any aspect of public or private sector labor and/or employment law relevant to the American labor and employment bar. Students are encouraged to discuss a public policy issue, practical implications of a leading case or doctrine, a statute or the need for statutory modification, or a common law doctrine. Articles may address U.S. law, international law of relevance to U.S. labor and employment attorneys, or how a legal topic is treated in states across the country, but papers limited to the law of a single state will not be considered. Papers must be analytical in nature, not merely a summary of the law. Students must present and discuss competing points of view with respect to the issue presented and must distinguish their conclusions from opposing positions with sound logic and reference to multiple sources. Entries will be evaluated on topic selection, analysis, quality of research, grammar, spelling, usage and syntax, clarity, structure, overall appearance, and relevance to the practicing labor and employment law bar.

The first-place winning article will be published in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law, and its author will be a guest at the annual CLE program of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law and honored at the Annual Induction Dinner of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. The College and the Section reserve the right not to select any article for publication or award any prizes if, in their judgment, the submissions do not meet their standards for publication.

To be considered, articles must be submitted by midnight (EDST) on May 15, 2014, to swan@laborandemploymentcollege.org using the subject line "Writing Competition." The manuscript should be submitted as attachments in both Microsoft Word and PDF documents. The text should be Times New Roman font, 12 point pitch, double-spaced and the footnotes single-spaced with double-spacing between footnotes on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper with one-inch margins on all sides. The manuscript, exclusive of the cover page, may not exceed twenty pages. All citations should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (19th Edition). Do not submit endnotes, a table of contents or table of cases. A separate cover page must also be submitted that includes the paper's title, author's name, law school, graduation date, e-mail, street address and telephone number. Although personal information should not appear on the manuscript itself, the title should be clearly visible on at least the first page. Manuscripts must be the original work of a single author, may not have been written for paid employment, and may not have been submitted for publication elsewhere.

RULES

1.    Entries may address any aspect of public or private sector labor and/or employment law relevant to the American labor and employment bar. Students are encouraged to discuss a public policy issue, practical implications of a leading case or doctrine, a statute or the need for statutory modification, or a common law doctrine. Articles may address U.S. law, international law of relevance to U.S. labor and employment attorneys, or how a legal topic is treated in states across the country, but papers limited to the law of a single state will not be considered. Papers must be analytical in nature, not merely a summary of the law. Students must present and discuss competing points of view with respect to the issue presented and must distinguish their conclusions from opposing positions with sound logic and reference to multiple sources.

2.    The competition is open to articles written while the author is a student at an accredited law school in the United States. Authors may not have graduated from law school prior to December 1, 2013. Graduate students in law school (LL.M. candidates) are not eligible.

3.    Entries will be evaluated on topic selection, analysis, quality of research, grammar, spelling, usage and syntax, clarity, structure, and overall appearance.

4.    Articles must be submitted to swan@laborandemploymentcollege.org, using the subject line "Writing Competition," by midnight (EDST) on May 15, 2014. A separate cover page must also be submitted that includes the paper's title, author's name, law school, graduation date, e-mail, street address and telephone number. Although personal information should not appear on the manuscript itself, the title should be clearly visible on at least the first page.

5.    The article should be 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with the footnotes single-spaced and double-spacing between footnotes on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper with one-inch margins on all sides. The manuscript, exclusive of the cover page, may not exceed twenty pages. Do not submit endnotes, a table of contents or table of cases. Articles must be submitted as two attachments in both Microsoft Word and PDF documents.

6.    All citations should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (19th Edition).

7.    Manuscripts must be the original work of a single author, may not have been written for paid employment, and may not have been submitted for publication elsewhere.

8.    No person may submit more than one entry.

9.    The judges reserve the right not to award any prizes and to reject any or all submissions.

PUBLICATION AND PRIZES

1.    The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers may award the following prizes:

·         First Place: $1500
·         Second Place: $1000
·         Third Place: $500

2.    The first-place winning article will be published in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law.

3.    The names of the authors of the second- and third-place winning articles will be mentioned in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law.

4.    The author of the first-place winning article will be invited as a guest at the annual CLE program of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law and honored at the Annual Induction Dinner of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.


5.    The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers may, at its discretion, include a copy of any or all of the prize-winning manuscripts in an issue of its newsletter and/or on its web site.

Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. Law School Diversity Scholarship

The Michigan personal injury lawyers of Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. are pleased to announce its second annual 2014 Law School Diversity Scholarship for law students. The scholarship has been created as part of Buckfire & Buckfire’s commitment to build on the promise of diversity within the workplace, community and society.

The Law School Diversity Scholarship is $2,000.00 and will be awarded to a student who is currently attending an accredited law school, who is either a member of an ethnic or racial minority or demonstrates commitment to issues of diversity within their academic career. The second annual award will be awarded in 2014. All information can be found online.

Monday, October 28, 2013

2014 Mollie and Paul Hill Student Writing Competition

The Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration 
in Medicine and Law
2014  Mollie and Paul Hill Student Writing Competition
in Medical-Legal Interprofessional Collaboration

Beginning in 2014, the Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law, based in both the FSU College of Medicine and the FSU College of Law, will present awards for the outstanding original papers submitted by a law student and a medical student or medical resident in response to a question pertaining to collaboration between the medical and legal professions. This writing competition is made possible by a generous gift from Mollie and Paul Hill.

AWARDS
  • $250 Outstanding Paper by a Law Student
  • $250 Outstanding Paper by a Medical Student or Medical Resident


2014 CONTEST QUESTION
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) enacted into law in 2010 attempts to improve the access of Americans to improved quality health care, while controlling the nation’s escalating health care expenditures. As the ACA gets further implemented in 2014, discuss opportunities and challenges this law presents for constructive, innovative collaboration between the legal and medical professions in contributing to the quest for a more affordable and accessible high quality health care system.

APPLICANT AND PAPER CRITERIA
1. All authors must be enrolled, at the time of paper submission, in an accredited law school or medical school (M.D. or D.O.) or participating in an accredited medical residency program in the United States.
2. No paper that has been previously published in any form will be considered; however, papers written for course credit are allowed as long as they have not been published. An applicant may submit a paper for publication consideration after the winner of this writing competition has been announced.
3. Each submitted paper must be the original work of a single author.

FORMAT
1. The length of the paper must be between 1,200 and 5,000 words. The word count applies to the total paper, including title page, body, footnotes, figures, and tables (if any).
2. No abstract is required.
3. All references should be in the form of footnotes, using either Blue Book or APA style.
4. All papers are to be submitted in Word document format, using 12 point Times New Roman font for all text, including footnotes. The body of papers must be double-spaced and footnotes should be single-spaced. All text must have one inch margins. All pages must be numbered.
5. The first page must be the cover page, which must include: the author’s name, full contact information, and school or residency program, as well as the final word count obtained from Word and a disclosure of any conflict of interest affecting the author concerning the subject matter of the paper.
6. At the top of the first page of text, only the title of the paper should appear.
7. If the author wishes to acknowledge an individual or institution, this may be done only on the cover page.

JUDGING
1. All papers will be judged by a committee of national experts on medical-legal collaboration, appointed by the Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law, in a blinded review process. The decision of the judges is final.
2. Prizes will not be awarded if the competition judges determine that no entry in a particular year meets the appropriate standards.
3. Papers will be judged according to the following criteria:
·         Responsiveness to the competition question
·         Originality and thoughtfulness
·         Quality of analysis
·         Quality of writing

DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION
1. All papers must be submitted in the proper format by midnight (EST) on January 2, 2014.
2. Papers must be submitted electronically to marshall.kapp@med.fsu.edu.
3. Direct questions to:
 Mollie and Paul Hill Student Writing Competition, Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law, 1115 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4300

4. Winners will be announced on or before April 1, 2014. 

2nd 2013 Diversity & Inclusion Career Fair - Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association is pleased to invite eligible law students to participate in the Second 2013 Diversity & Inclusion Career Fair. The Career Fair offers Job Seekers an introduction and opportunity to interact with potential employers.

WHEN: November 26th from 8:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

WHERE: Cleveland State University Student Center Ballroom

ABOUT
The Career Fair will begin with a panel discussion featuring prominent attorneys from a variety of industries and practice areas. After the panel discussion, Job Seekers will begin a speed interviewing session, structured as an informational table-talk event. Job Seekers will have the opportunity to meet and speak with Employers in five minute intervals. After the informational portion has concluded, if the Employer representative finds a Job Seeker he/she would like to interview at greater length, the Employer representative may invite the Job Seeker to return to their table at an appointed time.

COST
The cost to attend will be free for law school students. For all other job seekers, the cost to attend the job fair will be $15.00. Eligible law students must be:

·         Currently enrolled in a juris doctor program and
·         Member of the class of 2014 (current 2Ls/rising 3Ls) or 2013 (current 3Ls)
·         At an Ohio law school or a law school at a historically Black college OR university OR
·         Permanent resident of Cuyahoga County attending law school out of state

REGISTRATION
Before the day of the Job Fair, Job Seekers will register by email. Please send an email to the following address with a resume attached: jobs@clemetrobar.org. The email should contain your name, email address, telephone number, mailing address, year in school or years of legal experience. Each Employer will receive a thumb drive loaded with Job Seeker resumes submitted by November 15, 2013. There will be no onsite resume drop.

LODGING/TRAVEL

The CMBA has negotiated a special rate at the Marriott at Key Center. The special room rate for Employers and Job Seekers is $139. Employers and Job Seekers must make their own travel and lodging arrangements. Hotel reservation deadline to receive the special rate is Friday, November 8th. Please contact the hotel at 1(800) 228-9290 and reference the CMBA Career Fair Room Block.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

2013-2014 Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest

CONTEST GUIDELINES

Entrant Criteria:

Author of the paper must be a student enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school’s J.D. program at the time of submission (submissions for the 2013-2014 Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest will be accepted starting on August 1, 2013).

A student need not be a member of the Business Law Section to enter the contest.

Submission Criteria:

·         Papers must be written in 2012-2013 or the current academic year.
·         The paper may be specifically prepared for this contest; submitted in a class, seminar, or as an independent study; or a proposed law review/journal note, comment or article.
·         Papers submitted are normally 20-30 pages long, but in any event should not exceed 100 pages of double-spaced typed text, including footnotes.
·         Papers that have been submitted to or published by a student publication are acceptable for submission to the contest. The submission entry form must indicate to which publications the work has been submitted and if it has been published.

Judging:

The papers will be judged on research and analysis, choice of topic, writing style, originality, and contribution to the literature available on the topic. Depending on the topic, prior publication, and other factors, a previously unpublished first place winning essay may be considered for publication in a Section publication.

Prizes:

The prizes for the writing contest are:

1.    First Place: $2,500 to the first place winner to be presented at the Business Law Section Spring.
2.    Second Place: $1,000 to the second place winner to be presented at the Business Law Section Spring Meeting.
3.    Third Place: $500 to the third place winner to be presented at the Section of Business Law Section Spring Meeting.

Each winner will receive an all-expense paid trip by the Section to attend the ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting to collect his/her prize.

Outstanding papers may also be included in The Business Lawyer, a quarterly publication which is the premier business law journal in the country.

See the essay “The Supreme Court Should Hold that Secured Creditors Have an Absolute Right to Credit Bid” written by Hannah Y. Lee, our 2011-2012 first place writing contest winner, in the Vol. 68 No 2 issue of The Business Lawyer.

To Apply:

The Business Law Section will begin accepting submissions for the 2013-2014 Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest on August 1, 2013. Please download the 2014 submission entry form available online:


All essays, along with a 2014 submission entry form signed by a dean or faculty member, must be sent to Lauren Shores by Friday, January 10, 2014.

Please contact Lauren Shores with any question by email (lauren.shores@americanbar.org) or at 312-988-6398.

Selection:

All submissions will be reviewed by a selection committee after the January 10 deadline.


All applicants will be notified of their application’s status by mid-March 2014.

GRAMMY Foundation 16th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition

The GRAMMY Foundation has launched its 16th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition, co-sponsored by the American Bar Association.

AWARDS

A substantial cash scholarship of $5,000 will be awarded to the author of the winning paper and $1,500 will be awarded to each of the four runners-up. Additionally, each winner will receive airfare, hotel accommodations and a ticket to the 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 26, 2014, and broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network, as well as invitations to other GRAMMY Week activities, including the prestigious annual ELI Luncheon on Jan. 24.

INSTRUCTIONS

The ELI Writing Competition invites law students to write a 3,000-word paper on a compelling legal topic facing the music industry today. To encourage applications, the GRAMMY Foundation hosts ELI Writing Competition workshops at prominent law schools around the country with the goal of helping students with their essays.

The winning student authors will present their essays at the ELI Luncheon. Past luncheon keynote speakers include Tom Brokaw, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Clive Davis, Daniel Ek, Timothy J. Leiweke, and GRAMMY Foundation Board member will.i.am, among others.

DEADLINE


Competition submissions must be postmarked by Jan. 4 at 10 a.m. PST. Winners will be announced Jan. 17. 

INFORMATION

For complete contest rules, send an email toeli@grammy.com  or visit www.grammyfoundation.org

Global Markets Law Journal Writing Competition – John Marshall Law School

The Global Markets Law Journal is pleased to announce the 2014 Global Markets Law Writing Competition. Entries may address any subject that deals with the intersection of financial markets and law. The writing competition is open to JD and LLM students at all U.S. law schools. Entries must be the work of a single author and may not have been submitted for publication elsewhere.

AWARDS

The Global Markets Law Journal will award the following prizes:

1.    First Place: $3,000
2.    Second Place: $1,500
3.    Third Place: $500

The first-place winning article will be published in the summer 2014 issue of the Global Markets Law Journal.

SUBMISSION

To be considered, all entries must be submitted by Friday, February 15, 2014, at 5 p.m. CST to globalmarkets@jmls.edu using the subject line "Global Markets Law Journal Writing Competition." All submissions must include the author's name and contact information (email, postal address, and telephone number). If you are a law student, please also include your law school and the year you anticipate graduating.


For more information about the competition, download our 2014 Writing Competition Poster:


2013-2014 Louis Jackson National Student Writing Competition

2013-2014 Louis Jackson National Student Writing Competition in
Employment and Labor Law
Co-sponsored by Jackson Lewis LLP
and
IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, The Institute for Law and the Workplace


TOPIC
Judges will consider papers on any topic relating to the law governing the workplace, such as employment law, labor law, employee benefits, or employment discrimination.

REQUIREMENTS & ELIGIBILITY
Entries must be the law student author’s own work and must not be submitted for publication elsewhere. Authors must have completed or be currently taking course work in employment or labor law, and must be enrolled in an accredited law school during the Fall 2013 semester. Only the first two submissions per law school will be accepted as entries for consideration.

FORMAT
Entries must be suitable for publication in a law review. Citations must conform to current Bluebook style. Papers must be printed on 8 1/2 by 11 inch white paper and must not exceed 35 pages in length, including footnotes, set in 12 point Times Roman font with double spacing and one inch margins.

An entry consists of three copies of the paper, submitted as a packet with three removable cover sheets indicating the law student author’s name, address, telephone number, email address, law school, paper title, labor and employment law course work history, and a brief paragraph describing the genesis of your interest in the field. Judging will be blind, so the only identification that may appear on the first or subsequent pages of the paper is the paper title.


AWARDS
·         One top honors award of $3,000
·         Two $1,000 awards will be presented to the top three entries
·         In addition to the cash awards, the top three entries will be published on the Institute for Law and the Workplace website. (Electronic versions of winning papers will be required)

JUDGING
Entries will be blind-judged by an independent panel of law professors from across the United States. The determination of the judges’ panel is final. Neither Jackson Lewis LLP nor the Institute for Law and the Workplace will be involved in judging the competition.

SUBMISSION
The deadline for submission is Tuesday, January 21, 2014. Entries received after the deadline will not be considered. Entries should be mailed to:

Louis Jackson Writing Competition
c/o Institute for Law and the Workplace
Chicago-Kent College of Law
Illinois Institute of Technology
565 West Adams Street
Chicago, IL 60661-3691

CONTACT
Questions may be directed to Professor Martin H. Malin by email to mmalin@kentlaw.iit.edu


ABOUT Jackson Lewis LLP


The Jackson Lewis law firm has been engaged in the practice of employment, labor, and benefits law on behalf of management for over 50 years. With offices in major cities throughout the United States, the firm has a national perspective and an awareness of local business environments. Jackson Lewis pioneered the concept of preventive employee relations to help employers shape a positive and productive workplace. The Louis Jackson National Student Writing Competition honors the memory of Louis Jackson, who provided inspiration, guidance, friendship and good humor for 39 years to all associated with Jackson Lewis.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Ladas Memorial Award Competition

Established in memory of distinguished practitioner and author, Stephen P. Ladas, the Ladas Memorial Award Competition is an annual award that is presented in two categories–Student and Professional–for a paper on trademark law or a matter that directly relates to, or affects, trademarks.

Award:
The student and professional winners receive a U.S. $2,000 cash award; a set of Stephen P. Ladas’s three-volume treatise, Patents, Trademarks, and Related Rights; and an invitation to attend INTA’s Gala. The winning papers are also published in INTA’s legal journal, The Trademark Reporter.

Categories of Competition

Student
• Eligible students must be enrolled as either full- or part-time law or graduate students.
• For students outside of the United States, university enrollment is acceptable.
• Students must provide proof of matriculation; school ID is acceptable.

Professional
• Authors may be legal practitioners, business professionals and/or academics.

• No restrictions regarding level of experience or years in practice apply.

Requirements:
1.    Subject of the paper must be trademark law or a matter that directly relates to, or affects, trademarks.
2.    Eligible papers may include both original unpublished manuscripts and published articles that are submitted to INTA by the submission deadline.
3.    Published articles must have been first published no longer than one year prior to the competition deadline.
4.    Paper must be a product of the author’s original thought and scholarship.
5.    Paper may be co-authored.
6.    More than one paper may be submitted for consideration.
7.    Paper must be limited to twenty-five pages.

Judging Criteria:
• Nature, breadth and timeliness of subject(s) addressed.
• Originality of subject and of thought.
• Extent of research and scholarship.
• Quality of writing.

Register for the competition:
To complete an application and submit your paper(s), please visit www.inta.org/ladasapply. The deadline to apply is January 17, 2014.
Email ladasaward@inta.org with questions.

ABA Antitrust Law - Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project , Summer 2014

Experience a career-making internship opportunity through The ABA Antitrust Law Janet D. Steiger Fellowship (named in memory of the late Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission). Work in the consumer protection and antitrust departments of state Offices of Attorneys General and other governmental offices throughout the US.

Selected students will serve for a minimum of eight weeks during the summer of 2014 in the consumer protection or consumer affairs offices of locations of participating state and territorial governments.

Based on feedback we have received over the first nine years this program has been offered, both participating government agencies and the Steiger Fellows have considered the program to be an overwhelming success.

Visit our website to view a video and learn more about the Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project:


TO APPLY:
Application and a list of participating government office locations for the summer of 2014 are located online at:

Students applying for a Janet D. Steiger Fellowship must complete an online application survey available at: http://AmBar.org/Steige. At the completion of the application survey students must also submit, via email, required material to: ABASteigerFellowship@americanbar.org.

DEADLINE:
The application period is September 30, 2013 until December 13, 2013.  Applications will not be accepted beyond the December 13, 2013 deadline date. 

STIPEND:
Each selected student will receive a $5,000 stipend for the summer (administered through the offices of the state attorneys general and subject to certain federal taxes).  Applicants are encouraged to apply for locations near their place of residence.  In the event that a Steiger Fellow is not living at home during their fellowship, there is a possibility that an optional travel/housing stipend allowance in an amount yet to be determined may be available.  Applicants should not rely upon receiving an allowance in deciding whether to apply for a fellowship.

QUESTIONS:
Contact Deborah Morgan, Assistant Director, ABA Section of Antitrust Law, at (312) 988-5606 or at ABASteigerFellowship@americanbar.org