Writing Contests for Law Students

There are a number of resources which attempt to keep track of writing contests of interest to law students.  The webpages are differently organized and are updated on different schedules. There is no assurance that all writing contests will be found on these pages, but they are certainly the place to start. If you are interested in a particular field of law, you should also explore the homepages of organizations devoted to that area to determine if they sponsor competitions.


2023 Law Student Writing Competition by the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers (CLEL). Prizes range from $500 to $3000. Apply now!

The ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law and The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers are pleased to announce their 2023 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, 2022. Graduate students in law school (LLM candidates) are not eligible.

Prizes are as follows: First Place: $3000; Second Place: $1000, and Third Place: $500.

The first-place winning article may be selected for publication in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law. In addition, the author of the first-place paper will be a guest at the ABA Annual Section of Labor and Employment Law Conference 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 outstanding legal writing. Learn more about the application (and apply) here.