The University of Pennsylvania Law Review is pleased to announce its first annual Public Interest Essay Competition. The Competition is a national writing competition for student-authored articles on topics focused on social justice and the public interest.
The University of Pennsylvania Law Review has both a professional and educational mission: it serves the bench, the bar, and the academy by providing a forum for the publication of original, high quality legal research while also providing educational experiences for its Editors. Like many journals, the Law Review provides an opportunity for its Editors to submit an original work of scholarship suitable for professional publication. Through this Competition, the Law Review seeks to expand this opportunity and further its dual mission by publishing serious legal scholarship focused on social justice and public interest issues and by supporting law students at the beginning of their legal careers.
“We are thrilled to be launching this initiative,” said Michael McDonald, editor in chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review Volume 163. “As the oldest student law journal in the country, we hope to provide a fitting forum for publishing exemplary work that explores issues related to the public interest and highlights budding legal scholars. Public service and preeminent scholarship are central ideals for our home institution of Penn Law, and we are glad to share in that commitment.” Competition Details
Prizes
One winning essay will receive a monetary prize of $3,000 and will be published in print in Volume 164 of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
Topic
Submissions must focus on a specific legal issue within the public interest. This encompasses any issues relating to social justice or advancing the general welfare and good of the public. Topic selection will be one of the criteria judged.
Deadline For Submission
The University of Pennsylvania Law Review is accepting submissions for its first annual Public Interest Essay Competition. The deadline for submissions is Monday, June 22, 2015, at 5pm EDT, via the online submission portal located here.
Eligibility
The competition is open to all current law students (Classes of 2015, 2016, and 2017) from any ABA accredited American law school. Submissions are limited to one per person and must be an original, unpublished academic essay.
Format
Essays must be submitted in PDF format and include footnote citations. Submissions must be no longer than 9,000 words, including all footnotes, and must be named “PIEC.pdf”. All submissions will be considered anonymously. Students must ensure that their essays do not contain any identifying information. Any essays that include identifying information, such as name, class year, or institutional affiliation, will be disqualified.
All submissions must conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (19th ed. 2010).
Judging Process And Winner Notification
All submissions will be considered anonymously by a selection committee from Volume 164 of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. The best submissions will demonstrate originality and superior literary effort that advances and serves the interests and understanding of a specific topic within the broad arena of public interest and the law. The winner will be announced in the fall of 2015, receive $3,000, and be published in print in Volume 164 of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.