Writing Competitions

The California Lawyers Association’s (CLA) Business Law Section (BLS) is proud to announce its 2025 Law Student Essay Contest. Through this award, the Section seeks to recognize law student authors of exceptional scholarship on the subject of California’s corporate governance landscape. The first-place winner will receive a $3,000 cash prize for reimbursement of a bar review program.

The deadline for submission is April 30, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. More information can be found here.

The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers is pleased to announce their 2026 writing competition. This competition is open to articles written while the author is an active student at an accredited law school in the United States. Authors may not have graduated from law school prior to December 1, 2025. Graduate students in law school (LLM candidates) are not eligible.

The deadline for submission is June 15, 2026. More information can be found here.

The Committee on Animals and the Law was established to provide information and resources for the New York State Bar Association’s members and the public about non-human, animal-related humane issues, which arise from and have an effect upon our legal system. Law students (which include J.D., L.L.M., Ph.D., and S.J.D. candidates), are invited to submit to the Committee on Animals and the Law, an article concerning any area of Animal Law.

The deadline for submission is July 6, 2026. More information can be found here.

The Trusts and Estates Section is seeking submissions for its first annual Trusts and Estates Writing Competition. First place article will be recognized with (1) a $2,500 cash prize and (2) publication of the article in the Trusts and Estates Quarterly. The article must be related to legal issues that affect the area of trust and estates law in California. This includes a wide range of topics such as trust administration, probate, estate planning, conservatorships, guardianships, elder law, trust and estates litigation, and estate and gift taxes.

The deadline for submission is August 31, 2026. More information can be found here.

The ACREL Law Student Writing Award is given annually by the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) to the law school student author(s) of an article relating to real property that is published, or accepted for publication, in a scholarly journal sponsored by a law school in the United States. The award recognizes and encourages thoughtful student scholarship and excellent writing in the area of real property law or related topics.

The deadline for submission is December 31, 2026. More information can be found here.