The Expert Institute’s 2018 Annual Legal Writing Scholarship

Deadline: 12/31/2018

Competition Website

Contest Overview

Clear, effective writing is the cornerstone of an exceptional lawyer, and a vital area of education for aspiring attorneys. While traditional forms of legal writing like case briefs and contracts endure, the internet has given legal professionals a new medium of communication that demands mastery as well. Blog posts are a new way for attorneys to educate and persuade, and to participate in a broader legal discourse with their peers. In recognition of the importance of online legal writing, The Expert Institute is offering a $2,000 scholarship for the best legal blog post written by a law student on the topic of expert witnesses. To be considered for the scholarship, you must submit a 1,000 to 2,500 word blog-style article on the use of expert witnesses in litigation through the online submission portal at the bottom of this page by December 31, 2018. If your article wins, you will receive a $2,000 scholarship. In addition, your article will be published on The Expert Institute’s blog and distributed in our weekly newsletter, where it will be read by thousands of practicing attorneys.


Prize Breakdown

contest-1st

1st Place

  • Cash prize $2000
  • Blog publication
  • Newsletter circulation
  • Email announcement
contest-2nd

2nd Place

  • Blog publication
contest-3rd

3rd Place

  • Blog publication

Official Guidelines

To win, your article has to be logically rigorous and substantive, as well as engaging and entertaining. Ideally, lay people should be able to understand and enjoy the article, while lawyers should find it useful and insightful.

Eligibility and Topic:

J.D. Students – Any topic in litigation involving expert witnesses

Parameters:

  • Specific case references are required, and the article must contain specific examples
  • Your article must be an unpublished, original submission. The Expert Institute reserves the right to publish in print and digital all or part of the essay or abstract at its discretion
  • Citations should be inline – no footnotes or endnotes. Links to electronic sources are encouraged
  • Articles must be 1,500 – 2,500 words in length, and written in a blog post format

Submission must include:

  • Full name of author (First, Middle, and Last)
  • Contact information for author, including e-mail address and phone number
  • School name and mailing address
  • A .doc or .docx file containing your article. PDFs and other document formats are not acceptable

Judging:

Factors that will be considered during judgment include:

  • Clarity, style, and poise of writing
  • Originality of topic
  • Thoroughness of research and quality of analysis
  • Comprehensibility by lay and professional audiences

 

Article Submission:

All submissions must be received before midnight on December 31, 2018 in order to be considered. Please include all required information in a cover sheet on the submitted document.

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