National Association of Women Lawyers
2015 Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition

The National Association of Women Lawyers ("NAWL") is a national organization devoted to promoting the interests and progress of women lawyers and women's legal rights. Since 1899, NAWL has served as an educational forum and active voice for the concerns of women lawyers in this country and abroad. Through its programs and networks, NAWL provides the tools for women in the profession to advance, prosper, and enrich the profession. 

NAWL has established the annual Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition to encourage and reward original law student writing on issues concerning women and the law. 

The rules for the competition are as follows:

Entrants should submit a paper on an issue concerning women's rights or the status of women in the law. The most recent winning paper wasThe Decriminalization of Rape on America's College Campuses: How Federal Sex Discrimination Policy has Diminished the Role of the Criminal Justice System in Combatting Sexual Violence written by Danielle Elizabeth DeBold, who was a 3L at New York University School of Law. View the paper here.

Essays will be accepted from students enrolled at any law school during the 2014-15 school year. The essays must be the law student author's own work and must not have been submitted for publication elsewhere. Papers written by students for coursework or independent study during the Summer, Fall or Spring semesters are eligible for submission. Notwithstanding the foregoing, students may incorporate professorial feedback as part of a course requirement or supervised writing project.

              

FORMAT: Essays must be double-spaced in 12-point, Times New Roman font. All margins must be one inch. 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 fifteen pages of text, excluding notes, or that are not in the required format may not be read.

JUDGING: NAWL and the Women Lawyers Journal designees will judge the competition. Essays will be judged based upon content, exhaustiveness of research, originality, writing style, and timeliness.

QUESTIONS: Questions regarding this competition should be addressed to the Writing Competition Chair, Professor Jennifer Martin at jmartin@stu.edu.

SUBMISSION AND DEADLINE: Entries must be received by May 1, 2015.

Entries received after the deadline will be considered only at the discretion of NAWL. Entries must include a cover letter providing the title of the essay, school affiliation, email address, phone number, and mailing address of the author. Entries must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word via email to jmartin@stu.edu.

AWARD: The author of the winning essay will receive a cash prize of $500. NAWL will also publish the winning essay in the Women Lawyers Journal. 

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Court of Federal Claims Bar Association
2014 – 2015 Law Student Writing Competition

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims Bar Association announces its 2014-2015 Law Student
Writing Competition. The Court of Federal Claims Bar Association (CFCBA) is a voluntary bar
association made up of nationwide members who practice law in the areas that lie within the
specialized jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The goal of this competition is to
promote interest in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and its distinctive role in American
jurisprudence, and to encourage law student scholarship on current topics that lie within its
jurisdiction.

The United States Court of Federal Claims, which hears claims against the United States, has
existed in its current and predecessor forms for more than 150 years. The current court was
created pursuant to Article I of the United States Constitution in October 1982. Its predecessor,
the United States Claims Court, was created in 1855 when Congress established a court to hear
private suits against the sovereign. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims is authorized to hear
primarily money claims founded upon the Constitution, federal statutes, executive regulations, or
contracts, express or implied-in-fact, with the United States.
The cases before the Court are diverse. They include (but are not limited to) disputes concerning
tax refunds, contracts with the government, Fifth Amendment takings (which frequently raise
environmental and natural resource issues), federal civilian and military pay, intellectual
property (including use by the government or its contractors of technology protected by patents
or copyrights), Native American rights, federal procurement "bid protests," and the federal
Vaccine Injury Compensation program.

Entries to the contest may discuss any topic that lies within the procedure, substance, or scope of
the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The rules of the contest appear below.
COMPETITION RULES

Eligibility: Any law student in good standing currently enrolled at or graduated from an ABA
accredited law school during the 2014-2015 academic year may enter the competition. Students
are permitted to use as their entries (i) papers that they prepared specifically for the competition,
or (ii) papers that they prepared for law school courses and seminars during the 2014-2015
academic year.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN
11:59PM EASTERN ON FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015.