2016 OSBA Environmental Law Award: Call for papers and submission guidelines

Topic: Any topic that advances the application and practice of environmental, energy or resources law in the State of Ohio.

Eligibility: You are eligible to enter the OSBA Environmental Law Award: Call for Papers if you are currently enrolled in law school. The submission must be the student's original, unpublished and uncopyrighted work.  The paper may be prepared to satisfy a course requirement or for other academic credit. However, the paper must be the work of the submitting student without substantial editorial input from others. Only one paper may be submitted per entrant. Joint submissions are not permitted.

Prize: The winner of this contest will receive a prize of $1000 donated by McMahon DeGulis LLP. The second place winner will receive a prize of $250.

Submissions: Submissions may be of any length up to a maximum of 50 pages, in a double spaced, 8.5x11-inch page format with 12 point font (10 point for footnotes). All entries must be submitted electronically to envlaw@mdllp.net. You will receive a confirmation by email. The subject line should be "Response to Call for Papers" and the paper and cover page should be separate attachments. 

Each submission should include a SEPARATE COVER PAGE with the entrant's name, law school, year of study, mailing and email address, and phone number. The contestant's name and other identifying markings, such as school name, may not appear on any copy of the submitted essay. The cover page should also include an abstract of not more than 250 words and certification that the article has not been published or is not slated to be published elsewhere. This certification grants McMahon DeGulis LLP and the OSBA the non-exclusive license to publication.

Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 29, 2016.

A random number will be assigned to each entry and record of this number on all copies of each essay submitted. Neither the contestant's identity nor his/her academic institution will be known to the selection committee.

Selection: Submitted articles will be judged on the following criteria: relevance to the practice of law in Ohio, timeliness and importance of selected topic; organization; quality of legal analysis; quality of legal research; and quality of the overall writing. In the event of a tie, the first tiebreaker will be the score for relevance to the practice of law in Ohio. The winning paper is expected to be of law review quality or better.

For additional information, please contact Louis L. McMahon, Esq., of McMahon DeGulis LLP at (216) 367-1407 or lmcmahon@mdllp.net.

Purpose
The Crane Writing Competition is designed to encourage outstanding student scholarship at the intersection of law and medicine or law and the social sciences that promotes an understanding, furthers the development of legal rights and protections, and improves the lives of those with disabilities.

Eligibility
The Crane Writing Competition is open to currently enrolled law students (J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D.), medical students, and doctoral candidates in related fields who attend an accredited graduate program of study in the United States.


Topic
Submitted papers may be on any topic relating to disability law including, legal issues arising with respect to employment, government services and programs, public accommodations, education, higher education, housing, and health care.

Deadlines
All submissions must be submitted electronically to cranewritingcompetition@tjsl.edu. All entries must be received by midnight, Pacific Standard Time, January, 15, 2016. Winning submissions will be announced by April 15, 2016.

Contact

Questions should be directed to Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp: susanb@tjsl.edu

http://www.tjsl.edu/cranewritingcompetition

2016 WRITING COMPETITION

The American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers is pleased to announce awards to be presented for:

                      (a) the best book

                      (b) the best publishable article, book chapter, or substantial book review

                      (c) the best student note or comment on a topic dealing with consumer financial                                        services law.

The awards include cash payments of $2500, $2000, and $1000, respectively, a Certificate of Recognition from the College, and travel expenses to attend the Spring 2016 meeting of the College. In any given year, depending on submissions, all three awards, or fewer, may be made.
Eligible entries will address a topic on consumer financial services, but not securities regulation, insurance, or the safety-and-soundness aspects of banking regulation. Works on subjects within these (or other) areas, however, will be considered if they bear directly on consumer financial services.
Entries must have been written or published between November 15, 2014, and December 1, 2015.

The deadline for submission is December 1, 2015. Unpublished entries should be typed, double spaced, and in law review format.

The winners will be honored at the annual meeting of the College held in conjunction with the Spring Meeting of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, to be held in Montreal in April 2016.

The American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers is a nonprofit association of attorneys who have made significant contributions to consumer financial services law over an extended period of time. Its members include academics, present and former federal and state regulatory and enforcement officers, authors in the field, private practitioners, counsel for financial institutions and other service providers, and representatives of consumer protection and advocacy organizations.

Entries must be submitted in electronic format and should be sent to:

tfranzen@franzen-salzano.com

Therese G. Franzén, ACCFSL Writing Competition Chair
Franzen and Salzano, PC
40 Technology Parkway South, Suite 202
Norcross, Georgia
30092

More information on the College may be found at: http://www.accfsl.org

You’ve Graduated From Law School, What Do You Call Yourself?

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself 

any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

~Oh the Places You’ll Go, by Dr. Seuss

But not so fast!  If you are going to be a practicing lawyer, you still need to take and pass the bar exam, and then be admitted to a state bar.  And in the meantime, while you are studying, taking the bar, and then contemplating “what the heck am I going to do until I’m admitted,” you need to know what you can call yourself professionally?

This is an important consideration that is often overlooked by recent law school graduates.  The question is frequently asked of the staff at the Board of Professional Conduct, “Can I call myself lawyer, attorney, counselor, esquire?”  And the answer invariably is “No.  Not until you are admitted to practice before the bar.”  It is important to recognize this distinction because you do not want to run afoul of the ethics rules before you are admitted, or worse not be admitted because of it.  See, Disciplinary Counsel v. Cuckler, 2004-Ohio-784; In re Application of Stage, 1998-Ohio-338.

Here is quick guide of how to refer to yourself and when:

• After graduated and studying for the bar exam:  “J.D.” and/or indicate “preparing for OH (or whatever state) bar examination”
•  After graduated and finished taking bar exam:  “J.D.” and/or “awaiting OH (or other state) bar examination results”
• After graduated and passed bar exam, but not yet admitted:  “J.D.” and/or “awaiting/pending admission to OH (or other state) bar.”
• After admitted to bar:  “J.D.” and/or “lawyer, attorney, or esquire.”
•  After graduated, but never admitted to bar:  “J.D.”

It is important to keep in mind that you CANNOT refer to yourself as “lawyer, attorney, counselor, esquire” until admitted to a state bar.  The six months from graduation to admission may seem long, but it is much shorter than not being admitted because your application is denied.  The key is do not refer to yourself as something you are not.

This blog post was provided by Heidi Wagner Dorn, Esq., Counsel for the Board of Professional Conduct, Supreme Court of Ohio, Summer 2015.

Legal Research and Writing Competition

The deadline is quickly approaching deadline for the DISH^® 2015 “Best in Class” eDiscovery Legal Research and Writing Competition sponsored by DISH Network L.L.C., in conjunction with Redgrave LLP.  The grand prize is $3,500 for the winning student, and the winning school can get some media coverage.

The submission deadline is April 13, 2015.

The DISH® “Best in Class” eDiscovery Legal Research and Writing Competition encourages law students to develop a thorough understanding of the evolution and practice of Information Governance and Discovery in civil litigation.  The competition is the only one of its kind designed to challenge law students to explore the evolving issues of document management, electronically stored information, and ever-expanding technology — along with their application to the law.

Additional contest information can be found on the contest website at: http://www.dishediscovery.com

UpRight Law Scholarship Contest Official Rules

THE UpRight Law Access to Advocacy Award IS OFFERED ONLY IN THE 50 UNITED STATES AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BY UpRight Law LLC (“SPONSOR”) TO PROMOTE ITS ONGOING COMMITMENT TO access to justice. CONTEST BEGINS 12:01 AM CST February 15, 2015 AND ENDS 11:59 PM CST July 15, 2015 (“CONTEST PERIOD”).
Contest is open to legal permanent residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia.  Entrants must be either (1) currently registered in an accredited law school program; (2) currently accepted to a law school program; or (3) engaged in pre-law curriculum at an accredited four-year college.  Scholarship will only be awarded to the winning entrant upon furnishing proof of law school registration;  entrants who are accepted but not registered, or enrolled in pre-law course work, must register in a law school program to receive scholarship and must do so before July 15, 2019 or entrant/winner will be deemed to have forfeited his or her scholarship. Proof of identity and registration must be furnished upon request.
Entry in the Contest is available only at www.UpRightLaw.com (the “Website”). Entrants must submit an original video 90 to 120 seconds in length on one or more issues or topics relating to the need for the legal profession to adopt modern technologies to increase access to legal services and lower the cost for such services. The video may not contain any work (in whole or in part) which is the subject of a copyright, trademark or brand name of a third party. Video must not include anything that is inappropriate for publication (such as, profanity, nudity, hate speech, illegal conduct or gratuitous violence) or that disparages or adversely affects the goodwill and reputation of UpRight Law LLC. Video must address the Contest theme, must be truthful and accurate, and must not have been submitted to any other competition or contest or have received an award prior to submission as an entry in this Contest.  Once submitted, the video may not be modified, edited or replaced by the entrant. Video must be the original work of the entrant.  Upon submission, Sponsor is granted the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to display, reproduce, distribute, publish and create derivative works of the video in any format or medium.  Sponsor reserves the right to remove any submission for any reason.
To enter the Contest, access the website during the Contest Period, complete the official entry form on the Contest website and submit it and the video entry as directed. Entry and related materials must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM Central Standard Time on May 31, 2015.  Limit of one entry per person. No joint, group or team entries are allowed.  All video submissions become property of UpRight Law.

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. 

Learn More