All Minnesota law students are invited to submit papers or articles they have written on a topic involving
law and social justice. The writer(s) of the selected article or essay will be awarded a cash prize of
$1,000.00 (total) at MWL’s 49th Annual Meeting to be held remotely on Friday, April 30th, 2021.
All topics related broadly to law, liberty, justice, and equality are eligible, whether or not related to
women’s rights or feminist theory.
ELIGIBILITY:
A paper is eligible for the 2021 MWL Equal Justice Award if it was completed by the student while
attending law school. Papers written by individuals or with student co-authors are accepted. Papers
completed by members of the class of 2020 while attending law school are also eligible if they
were completed after the deadline for submitting for the 2020 Equal Justice Award (February 28, 2020).
A paper may only be considered once for the Equal Justice Award.
All submissions must be received at MWL by Monday, March 1st, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. Nominations
should submitted electronically via email to the attention of MWL Executive Director
Debra Pexa (dpexa@mwlawyers.org). Prior to the deadline, feel free to contact Debra with questions.
CRITERIA:
Submissions will be judged on the following criteria:
1. Significance: Does the work address an important legal and social issue of justice and equality?
2. Originality: Does the work make an original contribution to the topic? For example, does it
reinterpret an issue, offer new solutions to a problem, or suggest new connections between areas of
analysis? Does it draw on materials that shed new light on a topic? Does it offer a new perspective,
solution, or approach to an issue?
3. Presentation: Is the scholarship factually accurate? Is the paper well written? Does the author
address the issue using appropriate methodology, well designed to serve the author’s purpose?
Does the paper display appropriate depth of research? Does the paper place its analysis appropriately
in the scholarly field?
4. Persuasiveness: Does the paper present a cogent defense of the position taken? Does it give
appropriate attention to competing views? Does the author’s argument persuade the reader?
5. Impact: Does the work present ideas that are applicable in practical contexts? Are the ideas
useful to the educated reader?
SUBMISSIONS:
Submissions should include:
1. A cover letter—separate from the paper or article being submitted—with the writer’s
name, address, phone number, school of attendance, month and year of law school graduation
(actual or anticipated) and date (month and year) when paper was completed.
2. In an accompanying, separate document, the paper or article submitted for the competition.
This document must NOT include the student’s name, school, or other identifying information.
Any identifying information MUST be deleted from the article’s title, cover page, header,
footers, and footnotes before submitting the paper or article.
3. If the essay or article as submitted has been edited by or with the assistance of a third party,
provide a detailed description of the editing process (for example, who provided the editing
assistance, what changes were made as the result of the third party editing, how many drafts
went through the editing process, etc.).
Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Submissions should be sent by Monday, March 1st,
2021 at 4:30 p.m. via e-mail to MWL Executive Director Debra Pexa at dpexa@mwlawyers.org.
Failure to comply with the instructions for submission detailed above may result in
disqualification of the paper from the competition. Please contact MWL (dpexa@mwlawyers.org)
with any questions.
To be considered for the 2021 MWL Equal Justice Award, complete submissions
must be received at MWL by Monday, March 1st, 2021 at 4:30 p.m.