NLR 2011 Law Student Writing Competition

The National Law Review is pleased to announce the commencement of the Winter Law Student Writing Contest:

The National Law Review (NLR) consolidates practice-oriented legal analysis from a variety of sources for easy access by lawyers, paralegals, law students, business executives, insurance professionals, accountants, compliance officers, human resource managers, and other professionals who wish to better understand specific legal issues relevant to their work.

The NLR Law Student Writing Competition offers law students the opportunity to submit articles for publication consideration on the NLR Web site.  No entry fee is required. Applicants can submit an unlimited number of entries each month.

• Winning submissions will initially be published online in November and December 2011.
• In each of these months, entries will be judged and the top two to four articles chosen will be featured on the NLR homepage for a month.  Up to 5 runner-up entries will also be posted in the NLR searchable database each month.
• Each winning article will be displayed accompanied by the student’s photo, biography, contact information, law school logo, and any copyright disclosure.
• All winning articles will remain in the NLR database for two years (subject to earlier removal upon request of the law school).

In addition, the NLR sends links to targeted articles to specific professional groups via e-mail. The NLR also posts links to selected articles on the “Legal Issues” or “Research” sections of various professional organizations’ Web sites. (NLR, at its sole discretion, maydistribute any winning entry in such a manner, but does not make any such guarantees nor does NLR represent that this is part of the prize package.)

Why Students Should Submit Articles:

• Students have the opportunity to publicly display their legal knowledge and skills.
• The student’s photo, biography, and contact information will be posted with each article, allowing for professional recognition and exposure.
• Winning articles are published alongside those written by respected attorneys from Am Law 200 and other prominent firms as well as from other respected professional associations.
• Now more than ever, business development skills are expected from law firm associates earlier in their careers. NLR wants to give law students valuable experience generating consumer-friendly legal content of the sort which is included for publication in law firm client newsletters, law firm blogs, bar association journals and trade association publications.
• Student postings will remain in the NLR online database for up to two years, easily accessed by potential employers.
• For an example of  a contest winning student written article from Northwestern University, please click here or please review the winning submissions from Spring 2011.

Content Guidelines and Deadlines

Content Guidelines must be followed by all entrants to qualify. It is recommended that articles address the following monthly topic areas:

• November  2011 Feature: Intellectual Property law, Tax law and Labor & Employment law. (Submission deadline:  Monday October 17th , 2011)
• December 2011 Feature: Healthcare law, Financial Institution law and Bankruptcy and Restructuring law.  (Submissions deadline: Monday November 14th, 2011)

Articles covering current issues related to other areas of the law may also be submitted. Entries must be submitted via email to lawschools@natlawreview.com by 5:00 pm Central Standard Time on the dates indicated above.

Articles will be judged by NLR staff members on the basis of readability, clarity, organization, and timeliness. Tone should be authoritative, but not overly formal. Ideally, articles should be straightforward and practical, containing useful information of interest to legal and business professionals. Judges reserve the right not to award any prizes if it is determined that no entries merit selection for publication by NLR. All judges’ decisions are final. All submissions are subject to the NLR’s Terms of Use.

Students are not required to transfer copyright ownership of their winning articles to the NLR. However, all articles submitted must be clearly identified with any applicable copyright or other proprietary notices. The NLR will accept articles previously published by another publication, provided the author has the authority to grant the right to publish it on the NLR site. Do not submit any material that infringes upon the intellectual property or privacy rights of any third party, including a third party’s unlicensed copyrighted work.

Manuscript Requirements

• Format – HTML (preferred) or Microsoft^® Word
• Length – Articles should be no more than 5,500 words, including endnotes.
• Endnotes and citations – Any citations should be in endnote form and listed at the end of the article. Unreported cases should include docket number and court. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and proper format of related cites. In general, follow the Bluebook. Limit the number of endnotes to only those most essential. Authors are responsible for accuracy of all quoted material.
• Author Biography/Law School Information –Please submit the following:
  1. Full name of author (First Middle Last)
  2. Contact information for author, including e-mail address and phone number
  3. Author photo (recommended but optional) in JPEG format with a maximum file size of 1 MB and in RGB color format. Image size must be at least 150 x 200 pixels.
  4. A brief professional biography of the author, running approximately 100 words or 1,200 characters including spaces.
  5. The law school’s logo in JPEG format with a maximum file size of 1 MB and in RGB color format. Image size must be at least 300 pixels high or 300 pixels wide.
  6. The law school mailing address, main phone number, contact e-mail address, school Web site address, and a brief description of the law school, running no more than 125 words or 2,100 characters including spaces.

To enter, an applicant and any co-authors must be enrolled in an accredited law school within the fifty United States. Employees of The National Law Review are not eligible. Entries must include ALL information listed above to be considered and must be submitted to the National Law Review at lawschools@natlawreview.com. 

Any entry which does not meet the requirements and deadlines outlined herein will be disqualified from the competition. Winners will be notified via e-mail and/or telephone call at least one day prior to publication. Winners will be publicly announced on the NLR home page and via other media.  All prizes are contingent on recipient signing an Affidavit of Eligibility, Publicity Release and Liability Waiver. The National Law Review 2011 Law Student Writing Competition is sponsored by The National Law Forum, LLC, d/b/a The National Law Review, 4700 Gilbert, Suite 47 (#230), Western Springs, IL 60558, 708-357-3317. This contest is void where prohibited by law. All entries must be submitted in accordance with The National Law Review Contributor Guidelines per the terms of the contest rules. A list of winners may be obtained by writing to the address listed above. There is no fee to enter this contest.

Congratulations to our Spring 2011 Law Student Writing Contest Winners!

Spring 2011:

• The “Initial Interest Confusion” Test – Analysis and Proposal for a Sensible Formulation for Use on the Internet by Jaclyn Coronado Sitjar from Saint Louis University School of Law
• Notions of the Transformative in Law and the Visual Arts by Aimée Scala  from Brooklyn Law School
• Defining “Journalist”: Whether and How A Federal Reporter’s Shield Law Should Apply to Bloggers by Laura Katherine Layton from Georgetown University Law Center
• H.R. 848, The Performance Rights Act: The Recording Industry’s Saving Grace? by Nyasha Shani Foy from New York Law School 
• More Than Just An Algorithm: Reconciling The Necessity For Disaggregating The Business Method, With Bilski’s Abstract Test  by Andrew L. Schwartz  from Hofstra Law School 
• “Innocent” Criminals: Criminal Copyright Infringement, Willfulness and Fair Use by Charles Francis Scott  from Pace University School of Law
• Antitrust, Intellectual Property Rights, and the Online Music Industry: An Antitrust Analysis of Apple’s Combination of Services and Products by Rui Li from The University of Iowa College of Law
• From Trips to ACTA: Establishing the Intent to Uphold Access to Medicine in the Face of Ambiguity by  Guadalupe A. Lopez  from American University Washington College of Law 
• Standing and In Pari Delicto Issues Arising in Bankruptcy Cases by Rui Li from The University of Iowa College of Law
• Selling the Main Street Fairness Act: A Viable Solution to the Internet Sales Tax Problem by Michael J. Payne, CPA from Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law 
• Employers are Watching Your Facebook: Worker Privacy Significantly Diminished in the Digital Era by Michael Carlin  from University of Minnesota Law School
• The Need for a Detailed Procedure of Judicial Review of Civil Rights Arbitration Awards after Rent-A-Center West, Inc. v. Jackson by Nicole Farbes-Lyons from St. John’s University School of Law
• IKEA’s Way to Eternal Life: A Deconstruction of the Furniture Giant’s International Tax Practicesby Julia W. Gin from Santa Clara University School of Law