The ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law and The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers are pleased to announce their 2018-2019 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, 2018. Graduate students in law school (LLM candidates) are not eligible. Entries should address aspects of public or private sector labor and/or employment law relevant to the American labor and employment bar. Students are encouraged to discuss novel issues, innovative ideas, or fresh perspectives on the following areas affecting labor and employment in the U.S. and/or abroad that would be noteworthy to the U.S.: a public policy issue; practical implications of a leading case or doctrine; a statute or the need for statutory modification; or a common law doctrine. Articles may address U.S. law, international law of relevance to U.S. labor and employment attorneys, or how a legal topic is treated in states across the country. Papers limited to the law of a single state will not be considered. Papers must be analytical in nature, not merely a summary of the law. Students must present and discuss competing points of view with respect to the issue addressed and must distinguish their conclusions from opposing positions with sound logic and reference to multiple primary and secondary sources. We discourage students from writing articles about a recent Supreme Court decision or a case pending before the Supreme Court unless the article is novel and focuses upon case law or statutory developments subsequent to the Supreme Court’s decision.
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 annual Continuing Legal Education program of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law 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.
Complete rules are attached and should be read in their entirety. Competition rules can also be found on the College website at www.laborandemploymentcollege.org.