The American Bar Association Section of International Law is sponsoring a student writing competition to encourage law student interest and participation in the practice of International Law and the Section of International Law.

1. Competition Guidelines

   Eligible contestants are students in good standing, over the age of 18, currently enrolled at a U.S. law school or enrolled in a law study program outside of the U.S.  This competition is only open to students who are members of the ABA Section of International Law.

   The paper should be essay quality with a maximum of 10 double spaced pages, with sources properly attributed.  Authors should not use smaller than a 12 point font.  Only original and previously unpublished papers are eligible.  Papers prepared for law school credit are eligible provided they are original works.  Joint authored papers are NOT eligible.  Entrants may have a faculty member or practicing lawyer review and critique their work, but the submission must be the contestants own product.  Only one essay is to be submitted for each entrant.

   All submissions should be received electronically by February 16, 2009 to Membership Director Angela Benson at bensona@staff.abanet.org.   Or via mail:

   Angela Benson
   ABA Section of International Law
   740 15th Street, N.W.
   Washington, D.C. 20005

2. Topic of Essay

   The essay topic for the 2008-2009 academic year is “What International Legal issues will President Barack Obama face in his first year as President of the United States?”

   The following information should be on the title page: title, author’s name, ABA membership number, school attending and author’s year in school, author’s permanent and temporary address, telephone numbers and email address

3. Competition Awards

   The prizes are as follows:

   One $1,000 prize in U.S. dollars to a student attending law school in the U.S. and one $1,000 prize in U.S. dollars to a student studying law outside the U.S.  The prizes will be presented at the Section’s Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. in April 2009.  Winners will receive free meeting registration to the Spring Meeting, coach airfare (21 day advance reasonable purchase) and two nights lodging up to $1,000.  Travel costs will be reimbursed after the Spring Meeting.  Any taxes due on cash awards are the responsibility of the winners.

4. Judging

   The papers will be judged on an original analysis of the topic, creativity of thought and research that is persuasive and accurate, supported by citations/footnotes, if necessary, and clearly written.  Judging will be by a Committee appointed by the Section’s Chair.  The Committee will select the winning submission.  Judges and SIL leadership shall not participate in the contest or review/critique contestant entries prior to submission.  The Committee reserves the right not to award the prize if the Committee determines that no entry is of sufficient quality to merit recognition.  ABA staff will notify the winners after the Committee selection process is complete.

5. Reproduction

   All submitted essays become the property of the ABA.  By submitting an article, the author gives the ABA the right to reproduce any article submitted in any medium without time, use or territorial limitation, as long as the use is for noncommercial purposes.  Submitted essays will not be returned.

Click Here to Download Writing Competition Application Form

If you have any questions please contact Angela Benson at (202) 662-1664 or bensona@staff.abanet.org.