CSU Law Library Blog

The Legal History and Rare Books Special Interest Section (LHRB) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), in cooperation with Gale, a Cengage Company, is conducting its annual Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition.  Full- and part-time students currently enrolled in accredited graduate programs in law, history, library science, or related fields are eligible to enter.  Essays may be on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives.  Criteria on which papers will be judged include originality of topic or approach, quality and depth of research and analysis, clarity of presentation, and contribution to the field.  The winner will receive a $1,000 prize from Gale.  The authors of the winning and runner-up essays will have the opportunity to publish their essays  in LHRB’s online annual scholarly journal Unbound:  A Review of Legal History and Rare Books.  The Competition electronic submission deadline is 11:59pm EDT, Monday, 15 May 2023.

Full Competition details and Application Form are available at the LHRB SIS Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition web page.  Questions can be sent to Linda K. Tesar (lktesar@wm.edu), Head of Technical Services & Special Collections, William & Mary Law School.  The Competition is named in honor of Morris L. Cohen, late Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School and recognized as “one of the towering figures of late 20th century law libraries.”  His scholarly work  focused on legal research, rare law books, and historical bibliography.

Access Lex Institute is inviting proposals for its Bar Success Intervention Grant.  A letter of inquiry is required by May 18, 2022, and proposals are due September 20, 2022.  To be fundable, programs must have a 12-24 month duration and seek $150,000-$300,000; “focus on law students and/or graduates most at risk of not passing the bar exam or institutions with ultimate bar examination passage rates that fall below 70%; include clear statements of program goals and tangible and measurable objectives; and include an evaluation plan.”  Selection preference will be given to programs that encompass treatment/control group methodology for program evaluation, relevant long-term support for participants, and collaboration with other organizations.  For more information, see the Bar Success Intervention Grant page, which includes slide and video presentations on the grant proposal process, FAQs, and forms.

The Legal History and Rare Books Special Interest Section (LHRB) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), in cooperation with Gale, a Cengage Company, is conducting its annual Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition.  Full- and part-time students currently enrolled in accredited graduate programs in law, history, library science, or related fields are eligible to enter.  Essays may be on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives.  Criteria on which papers will be judged include originality of topic or approach, quality and depth of research and analysis, clarity of presentation, and contribution to the field.  The winner will receive a $500 prize from Gale and present the winning essay at an LHRB-sponsored webinar.  Authors of the winning and runner-up essays will also be invited to publish their essays in LHRB’s online annual scholarly journal Unbound:  A Review of Legal History and Rare Books.  The Competition electronic submission deadline is 11:59pm EDT, Monday, 16 May 2022.

Full Competition details and Application Form are available at the LHRB SIS Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition web page.  Questions can be sent to Fred W. Dingledy (fwding@wm.edu), Senior Reference Librarian, William & Mary Law School.  The Competition is named in honor of Morris L. Cohen, late Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School and recognized as “one of the towering figures of late 20th century law libraries.”  His scholarly work  focused on legal research, rare law books, and historical bibliography.

The law firm of Florin Roebig is holding a Scholarship Contest on the topics of Sexual Assault and Harassment. The contest asks students to develop a new program to help prevent sexual assault on college campuses. The essays should be no longer than 1200 words and the submission deadline is December 15, 2020. The first-place winner will receive $3000; cash prizes are also available for second and third place. See the link above for details.

If you’re a current law student interested in criminal law, why not submit an entry in the Third Annual Criminal Record Policy Essay Competition. The topics for the competition are:

• How to improve the expungement process in (state of your choice).
• When, if ever, should government stop reporting criminal records to the public?
• What effects do criminal records have on former offenders ability to re-assimilate?

The writing competition is sponsored by The Foundation for Continuing Justice and the law firm of Higbee & Associates. First place wins $2,000.  The submission deadline is September 30, 2020. Complete details here.