2024-2025 Law Essay Writing Competition
Topic: “Access to Justice”
You may submit legal essays on compelling arguments related to Access to Justice. Examples of topics include Trump v. USA; What will happen now that the Chevron Deference is no longer law?; and Legal Strategies to Address Qualified Immunity.
Competition Details:
The Hogan/Smoger Access to Justice Essay Competition is sponsored by R. Ben Hogan III of Hogan Law Office, PC, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Gerson H. Smoger of Smoger & Associates in Dallas, Texas, and Oakland, California. It is administered by Public Citizen.
Submission Deadline:
Submissions must be emailed on or before Friday, April 30, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, to Amanda Fleming at afleming@citizen.org. Papers emailed after this date will not be considered.
Eligibility:
The competition is open to all current law students, post 2015 law graduates, and all masters of law students. All entries must be in English with Bluebook citations on American law. Co-authored submissions are eligible; if selected, the co-authors will share the prize. Each submission must be an original, unpublished academic work, but simultaneous submissions will be accepted.
Format:
Submissions must be emailed as Microsoft Word documents. They may be full-length law review articles or shorter academic essays and should use footnotes (not endnotes). The word count may be between 6,000 and 25,000 words, not including footnotes. All entries must be in English with Bluebook citations on American law.
Judging Process:
A panel of lawyers, including law professors and practitioners, will judge the submissions based on depth of analysis, quality of writing, originality, and thoroughness.
Winning Submission and Prizes:
The winner will be notified by email. The winner will receive $5,000. Only one winning paper will be chosen and only one prize awarded.
Information:
Please contact Amanda Fleming, afleming@citizen.org with any questions.