law essay writing competitions 2022

Writing Competition

The  Harvard Law Review  is composed of second- and third-year law students who are selected via a six-day writing competition at the end of each academic year. The Review strongly encourages all students to participate in the writing competition, which consists of two parts:

• Subcite: this portion, worth 50% of the competition score, requires students to perform a technical and substantive edit of an excerpt from an unpublished article
• Case Comment : this portion, also worth 50%, requires students to describe and analyze a recent case

The competition uses a closed universe of materials provided to all competition-takers; no additional outside research of any kind is allowed or required. The use of any form of Artificial Intelligence during the competition is also strictly prohibited.

Based on the competition, fifty-four second-year students are invited to join the Review each year, including:

• Twenty selected based solely on competition scores
• Seven (one from each 1L section) selected based on an equally weighted combination of competition scores and first-year grades
• Three (from any section) selected based on an equally weighted combination of competition scores and first-year grades
• Twenty-four selected through an anonymous holistic review (see below for details)

The  Review  is committed to a diverse and inclusive membership and encourages all students to participate in the writing competition. Harvard Law School students who are interested in joining the  Review  must write the competition at the end of their first year, even if they plan to take time off during law school or are pursuing a joint degree and plan to spend time at another graduate school.

Timeline & Resources

The 2024 Competition will take place from Sunday, May 12 to Saturday, May 18 . Writing competition tips and Q&A sessions will be held in early and mid-April.

Registration will open in April 2024. We expect to invite editors to join Volume 139 over the course of several days in late July. Orientation for new editors is scheduled for the week of July 22nd and will take place remotely. Volume 139 will resume a past practice of an in-person Orientation for half a day near the start of the Fall 2024 Semester. Editors are expected to be fully available during this time. In August, editors will have Law Review assignments, but these assignments can be completed simultaneously with other commitments (internships, events, travel, etc.).

For more information about the competition, the following resources are available:

• The 2024 Application and Information Packet . The application information packet is designed to provide some specific guidance about approaching the case comment and subcite portions of the competition. Please note that the sample competition submissions included in the packet are merely representative and are by no means definitive examples.
• Tips Session and Q&A. Video of our April 1, 2024 writing competition tips session and our April 11, 2024 subcite Q & A session is available on our YouTube channel. The. This questions and answers document summarizes the Q&A portion of the April 13, 2023 session.
• Factsheet: This document responds to common questions and concerns we have heard.
• Sample Schedules: This includes a variety of writing competition schedules used by current editors.
• FAQ on Accommodations . See below for more information on disabilities and accommodations.

Competition & Membership Policies

Holistic consideration.

Applicants will have the opportunity to convey aspects of their identity which have led to the development of character qualities or unique abilities that can contribute to the Law Review , including but not limited to their racial or ethnic identity, disability status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. Applicants can do so by submitting an additional expository statement.  Statements will be considered by the Selection Committee only after grading of the competition has been completed. Statements will remain anonymous and will not be evaluated for quality of writing or editing, nor will they be assigned a numerical score.

Applicants are welcome to draft their expository statements before the competition week begins, and the prompt for the 200-word statement is as follows:

“You are strongly encouraged to use the space below to submit a typed expository statement of no more than 200 words. This statement may identify and describe aspects of your identity which have impacted your development of certain character qualities or unique abilities that can serve as an asset to the Law Review and are not fully captured by the categories on the previous page, including, but not limited to, racial or ethnic identity, socioeconomic background, disability (physical, intellectual, cognitive/ neurological, psychiatric, sensory, developmental, or other), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, country of origin or international status, religious identity or expression, undergraduate institution(s), age, academic or career trajectory prior to law school, military status, cultural background, or parental/caretaker status. Additionally or alternatively, you may use this statement to identify and describe areas of academic or scholarly interest, career goals, or any other element of your identity that you would bring to your work on the Law Review .

Statements will be considered only after grading of the subcite and case comment sections of the competition has been completed. Statements will not be evaluated for quality of writing or editing, nor will they be assigned a numerical score. No applicant will be penalized in any way for not submitting an optional statement, and all optional statements are completely confidential.”

Deferral & Leave

Harvard Law Review will invite students to join Vol. 139 in mid-July. Students invited to join Vol. 138 who are taking a full-year leave of absence from HLS will be allowed to defer their membership in Law Review for the year. They may then join the Law Review as members of Vol. 140 in fall 2025 and serve as editors for two years. Editors typically serve for two full academic years to ensure ample time for training, acclimation to their roles on the Review , and opportunities to make collective decisions about our work.

Students invited to join Vol. 139 who are taking a fall-semester leave of absence from HLS are encouraged to still join as editors with Vol. 139. If joining with Vol. 139, editors will be expected to complete Law Review work during the fall, even though they are on leave from HLS. They will then serve as editors for two years. Alternatively, students taking a one-semester leave may wait to join until fall of the following year (fall 2025); in that case, they will have no Law Review obligations during the 2024-2025 academic year and will participate as Law Review editors for a single year.

Transfer Students

Prospective transfer students may take the competition at the same time as Harvard Law School 1Ls. Prospective transfer students are selected on the same anonymous grading basis as Harvard 1Ls and are eligible for 44 of the spots on the Review (in other words, all spots besides the 10 allotted to Harvard 1Ls for whom first-year grades play a role). Prospective transfer students may submit an anonymized, unofficial transcript when their 1L grades are released if they would like their grades to be considered in the Law Review ’s holistic review process. The Review ’s membership decisions do not affect the admissions decisions of Harvard Law School.

Recognizing that the competition schedule poses unique challenges to prospective transfer applicants, the Review also allows transfer students to take the competition at the end of their 2L year. Up to four spots are available for such students. However, no student may attempt the competition more than once, and this option is only available to transfer students who did not previously take the competition. Like prospective transfer students, rising third-year students may submit their grades, but they will not be eligible for the 10 slots that incorporate first-year grades.

Prospective 1L transfer students should email [email protected] for information about registering.

SJD Students

SJD students at Harvard Law School may serve as editors of the Law Review . To join, SJDs take the same writing competition as JD students and are eligible for 44 of the editorial positions (all spots besides those allotted to JD 1Ls for whom first-year grades play a role). SJDs should take the competition only if they are certain they have at least two years remaining in their program of study. Additionally, as with all candidates, SJDs are permitted to participate in the writing competition only once.

Disabilities & Accommodations

The Harvard Law Review is firmly committed to providing accommodations for students with disabilities and handles requests on a case-by-case basis. The Law Review is an independent entity and thus has its own accommodations system separate from Harvard Law School’s Dean of Students Office.

Accommodations requests can be submitted between Monday, March 11th and Friday, April 12th and will be processed on a rolling basis. Students are strongly encouraged to submit their accommodation requests as soon as possible even if they are not yet certain they will take the competition. Please see our answers to FAQ on accommodations to learn more about what documentation is needed.

The Law Review strives to keep information regarding disabilities and accommodations as confidential as possible. Nothing about your accommodations application or your receipt of accommodations will be part of the Competition entry that is considered in the selection process. All Competition grading is doubly anonymized. Jennifer Heath, a non-student HLR staff member manages the logistics related to our accommodations process, and accommodations recommendations to the Law Review are made by our testing consultant, Dr. Loring Brinckerhoff.

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2022 Law Essay Writing Competition

Topic: “Legal Remedies to Combat Climate Change”

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 29, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, to Amanda Fleming at [email protected] . 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 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, [email protected] with any questions.

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Seventh Annual Student Essay Competition

Hayek goes to family court.

Applying Hayek’s theory of law and liberty to contemporary American family law, this Essay concludes that family-law scholars—especially those undertaking distributional analyses—would benefit from greater attention to the Hayekian values of predictability, adaptation, and equal application.

Facilitating Future Workforce Participation for Stay-at-Home Parents: Mitigating the Career Costs of Parenthood

Current policies help parents stay in the workforce after having children. But what about the quarter of American mothers who choose to become stay-at-home moms, then later face employment obstacles? This Essay proposes expanding worker opportunity tax credits and Title VII to help stay-at-home pare…

Volume 133’s Emerging Scholar of the Year: Robyn Powell

Announcing the eighth annual student essay competition, announcing the ylj academic summer grants program, featured content, lock them™ up: holding transnational corporate human-rights abusers accountable, administrative law at a turning point, law and movements: clinical perspectives.

• College of Arts & Sciences
• Graduate School of Education & Counseling

Global Law Writing Competitions

Students have the chance to be recognized for outstanding scholarship by writing competitions in areas of global law.

Davis Wright Tremaine International Law Writing Award (limited to Lewis & Clark students)

ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence

Benjamin B. Ferencz Essay Competition (international criminal law)

GoJIL Essay Competition (set topic)

Holocaust Remembrance Essay Award

James Baker Hughes Prize (international economic law)

ICSID Student Writing Competition (international investment arbitration)

International Humanitarian Student Writing Competition

Rona R. Mears Student Writing Competition (set topic)

Mendes Hershman Award (international business)

Daniel T. Murphy Student Writing Competition (international business)

Albert S. Pergam International Law Writing Competition Award

Science and Human Rights Student Essay Competition

Trandafir Writing Competition (international business)

Andrew P. Vance Memorial Writing Competition (customs and international trade)

Virginia Human Rights Competition

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voice   503-768-6716  

Contact Student Affairs

International Law Lewis & Clark Law School 10101 S. Terwilliger Boulevard  MSC Portland   OR   97219

• Financial Aid

Legal Writing Competitions: By Due Date

• By Due Date
• Additional Resources

Legal Writing Competitions

Legal writing competitions are a great way to earn recognition, get your work published, and even earn cash! The Legal Research Center has compiled a list of legal writing competitions, which you can browse by topic or by deadline month.

Some competitions require you to compose a new paper, while others call for the submission of a recently published paper, such as a law review article. Need help developing a topic? See our guides on  Developing a Topic for Research Papers and  Law Review Resources for more information.

This list is updated as new information is received, but note that deadlines and writing topics often change from year to year. Make sure to check each link for the most up-to-date information.

Writing Competitions: By Due Date

• Grammy Entertainment Law Initiative Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $10,000 tuition-based scholarship, tickets to GRAMMY Awards Topic: Legal issues facing the music industry
• Harvard Journal of Law & Technology (JOLT) Student Note Competition Deadline: June 9, 2023 Prize: $1700 Topic: Topics may include, but are not limited to, cybercrime, biotechnology, space law, entertainment and news media, comparative legal approaches to intellectual property, the law of the Internet, and technology in the public interest.
• Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 ; contact [email protected] Prize: $5,000 Topic: Submissions should address a legal topic of importance to the Asian Pacific American community. Eligibility: The Competition is open to all law students and anyone who graduated from law school within the last five years (i.e., 2018 or later) in the United States.
• NYIPLA Honorable William Conner Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500 Topic: An entry must be directed to any of the following subject areas related to intellectual property, i.e., patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair trade practices, antitrust, and data security/privacy issues. Eligibility: All entrants must be law school students currently enrolled in a J.D. or LL.M. program (day or evening) in an accredited law school in the United States.
• International Refugee Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $100 Topic: Papers may address any topic related to international law and refugees, stateless persons, internally-displaced persons (IDPs), and/or forced migrants. Eligibility: Student authors must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at an accredited university at the time of submission.
• University of Pennsylvania Law Review Dorothy E. Roberts Public Interest Essay Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 cash prize; $5,000 grant to support public interest work or the work of a non-profit organization or pro bono clinic Topic: Submissions must focus on a specific legal issue within the realm of public interest law, including any issue relating to social justice or advancing the general welfare and good of the public. In addition, the author must include a brief grant proposal for $5,000 to support public interest work related to the essay topic. Topics can be local, state, national, or international in breadth or impact. Eligibility: The competition is open to all current law students (Classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025) from any ABA-accredited American law school as well as recent graduates of such institutions from the classes of 2015 – 2022. Submissions are limited to one per person and must be an original, unpublished academic essay.
• Brooks Kushman Law Student Intellectual Property Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Trademark or patent law Eligibility: Open to any law student in good standing and currently enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school, and who is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States.
• ABA Business Law Section Mendes Hershman Writing Contest Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Topic: "Business Law" is a broad category. Without attempting to define the area precisely, the subject is intended to include matters within law school curricula in courses entitled: Eligibility: Author of the paper must be a student enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school’s J.D. program, in good standing, at the time of submission more... less... Agency; Bankruptcy; Business Law; Business Organizations; Commercial Law; Consumer Law Contracts; Corporate Finance; Corporate Governance; Corporations; Creditors Rights; Employment Law; Financial Institutions; Insurance Law; Oil and Gas Law; Professional Responsibility; Remedies; Secured Transactions; Securities Regulations; Uniform Commercial Code
• Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Human Rights Essay Award Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: A scholarship to cover tuition for the Program of Advanced Studies in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for either the Diploma or Certificate of Attendance options Notes: Essay Award Topic for 2023: Equality and Human Rights: Confronting Racial Discrimination Eligibility: Applicants for the Award must hold a law degree and have a demonstrated experience or interest in international human rights law.

Typically Held in January

These competitions have been held in January in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• National Native American Law Students Association Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Topic: All students are encouraged to submit scholarly articles between twenty (20) and fifty (50) pages, either individually or jointly with other students, about Native American legal issues. Eligibility: Competitors must be active, dues-paying members of National NALSA.
• American Society of Legal Writers Scribes Law-Review Award Deadline: January 15, 2023 Notes: Since 1987, Scribes has presented an annual award for the best student-written article in a law review or journal. The Scribes Law-Review Award is presented at the Scribes annual CLE, which is usually held in April.
• Louis Jackson Memorial National Student Writing Competition in Employment and Labor Law Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $3,000 Topic: Employment and labor law
• American College of Legal Medicine Student Writing Competition Deadline: January 28, 2022 Eligibility: All students studying Medicine, Law, Dentistry, Podiatry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Science, Healthcare Administration or Public Health are encouraged to compete.
• Center for Alcohol Policy National Essay Contest Deadline: January 28, 2022 Prize: $5,000 Topic: After Prohibition, states generally issued licenses for on-premise and off-premise sale of alcohol. Drinking was thus largely confined to bars, restaurants, the home, and private clubs. Alcohol is now regularly offered in places like salons, grocery stores, clothing stores, and galleries. Is this trend towards ubiquitous availability of alcohol a good one? And is there a new regulatory regime needed to address this trend?
• ABA Section of Antitrust Law Robert Pitofsky Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Antitrust or consumer protection law Eligibility: Open to any law school student in good standing, over the age of 21, who is currently attending an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions, and who is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States. Entrants must submit an original article, which has already been published or which is scheduled to be published.
• ABA Antitrust Law Section Harvey Saferstein Consumer Protection Essay Contest Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Consumer protection law
• Federal Bar Association Donald C. Alexander Tax Law Writing Competition Deadline: January 31, 2022 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Federal taxation
• International Trademark Association Ladas Memorial Award Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,250 Topic: Subject of the paper must be trademark law or a matter that directly relates to, or affects, trademarks. Eligibility: Eligible students must be enrolled as either full- or part-time law or graduate students. Eligible papers may include both original unpublished manuscripts and published articles that are submitted to INTA by the submission deadline.
• Baxter Family Competition on Federalism Deadline: TBA for 2025 Prize: $5,000 (CAD) Topic: Federalism: What makes it work (or not!). This broad theme welcomes reflections about the institutional, political and cultural elements that explain successes and failures of federalism, whether small scale or at the macro level. We particularly welcome analyses which explore the potential and pitfalls of cooperative federalism. Cooperative angles are especially encouraged. Eligibility: All undergraduate or graduate students in law or political science students, as well as junior scholars, lawyers or practitioners who graduated in these disciplines with five (5) years of working experience or less, from anywhere around the world.
• Georgetown Institute of International Economic Law Greenwald Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Current issues relevant to international trade law, the jurisprudence of the WTO or regional trade organizations, jurisprudence concerning U.S. trade organizations, an issue relating to the political economy or the efficacy of U.S. or international trade regimes. Eligibility: JD, LLM, and SJD students
• American Constitution Society Constance Baker Motley National Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $3,000 Topic: ACS welcomes all student papers furthering and promoting a progressive vision of the Constitution, law, and public policy. Entrants are encouraged to view this topic broadly, and we welcome submissions on a variety of substantive areas. Examples of possible topics include: census report, civil legal aid, civil liberties, constitutional convention, consumer rights, criminal justice, disability rights, freedom of speech, immigration, indigent defense, money in politics (including judicial elections), labor law, LGBTQ+ rights, privacy, protection of health, safety, and the environment, racial equality, religion, role of state attorneys general, second amendment and guns, separation of powers and federalism, women’s reproductive rights and reproductive freedom, voting and political process, and whistleblower protection. Eligibility: The competition is open to all law students who are current, dues-paying ACS National members.
• American Constitution Society Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition on Regulatory and Administrative Law Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500 Notes: Submissions should be focused on American regulatory or administrative law, broadly construed. Appropriate subjects include empirical or comparative analyses of the effectiveness of specific regulatory regimes or deregulation; doctrinal investigations of the development of administrative law rules or principles by courts and administrative agencies and the effects of that development; and normative analyses of how particular regulatory or administrative regimes or deregulation advance or fail to advance values of fairness, participation, and transparency. Eligibility: The competition is open to all lawyers and law students. Practicing lawyers, policymakers, academics, and law students all are encouraged to participate. To be considered for the law student category the author(s) must be currently enrolled in a J.D. or LLM program at a U.S. law school.

March Competitions with February Registration Deadlines

Paper submissions for these competitions are due in March, but registration is required and due in February.

• American College of Coverage Counsel Insurance Law Writing Competition Registration Deadline: TBA for 2024 Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,000 Topic: This year’s writing competition asks students to choose one of two sides in a case involving an insurance company and a Texas based business in preparing a motion for partial summary judgment on a specific set of grounds as presented by each party.
• Roy Snell Health Care Regulatory and Compliance Writing Competition Registration Deadline: TBA for 2024 Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Notes: In keeping with Roy Snell’s keen interest in practical, realistic, and user-centered communication, as well as a commitment to efficiency and clarity in writing, this demanding competition requires students to analyze a hypothetical fact pattern (the Competition Problem) involving an organization facing multifaceted health care regulatory/compliance matters and draft two separate internal memoranda to two different recipients within the organization. Students must analyze the facts presented, identify any and all regulatory/compliance concerns, and advise the recipient of the memorandum. Eligibility: The competition is open to all full and part-time law students in J.D. programs who have completed their 1L year. The competition is also open to any student currently enrolled in a Compliance Certification Board (CCB) accredited program.

Typically Held in February

These competitions have been held in February in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Open to 2L and 3L students at any Pennsylvania law school and Rutgers Law. Topic: Under the existing rules of judicial conduct, how might Pennsylvania's courts utilize current communication tools, such as social media, to engage the people of Pennsylvania to instill confidence in the workings of the judicial branch and its decisions?
• ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability Ed Mendrzycki Essay Contest Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: This year's hypothetical involves multiple ethical and professional liability concerns that arise when a partner in a law firm is retained to represent a client in several business and real estate matters regarding a series of land acquisitions, and the law firm is contacted by the Department of Justice to assist in the investigation of potential money laundering allegations against the client.
• ABA Antitrust Law Section Privacy and Information Security Committee Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Writing Competition Deadline: February 24, 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Participants are required to submit an original written work on data privacy or cybersecurity law. Eligibility: Contestants need not be a member of the American Bar Association (“ABA”), the Antitrust Law Section ("Section") or the Privacy and Information Security Committee ("Committee") although membership in all is encouraged.
• Epstein Becker Green Health Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $4,000 Topic: Papers may address any traditional area of the law as applied to health care (e.g., antitrust, tax, corporate) or areas of law unique to health care (e.g., fraud and abuse, managed care, Medicare/Medicaid, clinical trials, telehealth/telemedicine).
• American Indian Law Review National Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500 Topic: Any legal issue specifically concerning American Indians or other indigenous peoples. Eligibility: The competition is open to students enrolled in J.D. or graduate law programs at accredited law schools in the United States and Canada as of the competition deadline of Monday, Feb. 28, 2022.
• Sports Lawyers Association Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Notes: Each entrant must be a current law or LLM student and 18 years of age or older, and a member in good standing of the Sports Lawyers Association.
• Society of International Economic Law/JIEL/OUP Essay Prize Deadline: February 28, 2022 Prize: £200, as well as £400 of Oxford University Press book vouchers Topic: Any topic in the field of international economic law
• ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Student Legal Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Entries should address any legal issue regarding affordable housing, fair housing and/or community development law. Eligibility: Open to all law students who are at the time of entry, (a) enrolled in a law school that is at the time of entry, ABA Accredited, (b) member of the ABA and the Forum, (c) at least 21 years old, and (d) U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
• Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems Trandafir Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Any contemporary international business or economic concern. Recent winning submissions have included such topics as recommendations the United States should follow to update its privacy laws to harmonize with international general data protection regulation commitments, why international labor organizations should adopt fair trade as an enforcement mechanism to end labor violations, and why the United States Treasury should wait for Congress to end corporate tax sheltering tactics. Eligibility: All students currently enrolled in law or graduate degree programs.

Typically Held in March

These competitions have been held in March in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• Access To Justice Tech Fellows Legal Tech Fictional Writing Competition Deadline: March 1, 2022 Prize: $1,000 Topic: We’re seeking short fictional stories (1,500 words or less) about how technology is or will impact the legal field and access to justice. The stories are not meant to be academic articles designed for publication in a journal but rather an easily read work of fiction. The topic is fairly broad and can encompass any aspect of the interaction between the law and technological innovation.
• Judge Samuel G. DeSimone Legal Writing Competition Deadline: March 1, 2022 Prize: $3,000.00 Topic: “Given the sweeping ‘Me Too’ movement throughout the nation, should other states join New Jersey and adopt laws similar to S477/A3648, by expanding the two-year civil statute of limitations to seven years for all victims of sex assault, and make the expansion retroactive? Eligibility: The Judge Samuel G. DeSimone Legal Writing Competition is open to full-time and part-time law students who are enrolled in the 2021-2022 academic year in an accredited Law School, who reside in Southern New Jersey.
• Institute for Energy Law Hartrick Scholar Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Any topic related to energy development. This includes, for example, topics concerning oil and gas law, alternative energy resources, energy regulation, and environmental regulation of the energy industries.
• Center for Legal & Court Technology Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition Deadline: March 1, 2022 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Papers must focus on at least one application of these technologies (e.g., Internet of Medical Things devices, facial recognition technology, autonomous systems, social media monitoring, etc.)
• Notre Dame Law School Program on Church, State & Society Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $3,000 Topic: Papers should be focused, broadly, on topics related to church, state & society. For guidance on selecting a topic, students may wish to view our Program website and mission statement: https://churchstate.nd.edu/
• White River Environmental Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Any relevant topic in the fields of environmental law, natural resource law, energy law, environmental justice, land use law, animal law, and agricultural law. Eligibility: Current J.D. or LLM students at any ABA-accredited law school.
• Freedom From Religion Foundation Cornelius Vanderbroek Memorial Essay Competition Deadline: June 1, 2023 Prize: $3,500 Topic: As the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has become vital to the global effort to end the pandemic, both government and private employers, as well as some schools, around the country have announced vaccine mandates. Historically, very few employees have claimed religious exemptions from required vaccinations. However, people who oppose COVID-19 vaccines for political or other reasons are now abusing religious exemptions in order to flout vaccine mandates. Against this backdrop lawsuits have surged, challenging vaccine requirements on religious grounds and arguing that religious exemptions to such requirements are required by the First Amendment. Craft an argument that religious exemptions from vaccine requirements are not legally required, addressing constitutional questions as well as other legal issues raised by such mandates.
• Berkeley Technology Law Journal Writing Competition Deadline: March 28, 2022 Prize: $1,000 Topic: A wide variety of topics at the intersection of law and technology, including but not limited to: technology and the public interest, privacy, internet law, intellectual property, antitrust, First Amendment issues, entertainment and news media, telecommunications, biotechnology, and cybercrime. Eligibility: The competition is open to all currently enrolled graduate-level law students (including J.D., L.L.M., and J.S.D. candidates, along with law students outside of the United States).
• ABA Section of Family Law Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest Registration Deadline: TBA for 2024 Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500.00 Topic: The subject may be any aspect of family law. Eligibility: Contestants must be J.D. students at ABA-approved law schools who are: second or third-year full-time students; second through fourth-year part-time students; or first-year students enrolled in schools where the subject of family law is part of the first-year curriculum; and citizens or legal permanent residents of the U.S. more... less... The primary focus of each essay should be an issue of law, although some interdisciplinary material may be useful in addressing a legal issue. Family law includes dissolution of marriage and other intimate relationships, relationships of persons of the same sex, parentage, custody, child support, division of property, alimony (maintenance), attorney's fees, adoption, dependency, termination of parental rights, rights pertaining to procreation, and alternative dispute resolution of Family Law issues. Family Law generally does not include Juvenile Justice, Probate, Labor, Immigration Law, and sociology topics unless those topics are related to more traditional Family Law subjects.

Typically Held in April

These competitions have been held in April in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• American Kennel Club Companion Animal Law Writing Contest Deadline: April 1, 2022 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Students are asked to choose between two topics: The impact of “lawyers for dogs” laws on animal cruelty cases or the constitutionality of mandatory spay/neuter laws. Eligibility: Entrants must be enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school in the United States.
• ABA Standing Committee on Armed Forces Law Keithe E. Nelson Distinguished Service Award Deadline: TBA for 2024 Topic: Military law or the status of lawyers in the Armed Forces
• UIC John Marshall Law School Center for Tax Law & Employee Benefits Paul Faherty Tax Law Writing Scholarship Deadline: April 13, 2021 Prize: $3,000 Notes: Please contact the Center for Tax Law & Employee Benefits for additional information.
• ABA Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Recent developments in admiralty and maritime law Eligibility: The Competition is open to any U.S. citizen law student or LLM candidate over the age of 21, currently attending an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions.
• Marshall M. Schulman Annual Competition for Student Papers in Criminal Law and/or Criminal Procedure Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,500 Topic: Criminal law and/or to criminal procedure, with a particular focus on contemporary issues of concern in the State of California Eligibility: This is a nationwide competition; while the focus is on California law, past winners have included students attending schools across the country.
• Pennsylvania Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section Writing Contest Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: Patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets or trade dress Eligibility: Open to all law students enrolled in any law school in the United States who intend to take the Pennsylvania bar exam.
• American University Washington College of Law National Health Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Papers must address and analyze health law and/or food/drug/device law issues. (Note that a paper that analyzes intellectual property or environmental laws/statutes, even if relating to health or the health care industry, will not be eligible.) Eligibility: Current 2L, 3L, and 4L (evening/part-time) JD and LLM students enrolled in a U.S. law school at the time of paper submission are eligible to participate.
• Public Citizen Law Hogan/Smoger Access to Justice Essay Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Legal Remedies to Combat Climate Change
• National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: April 30, 2021 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code
• AALL/LexisNexis Call For Papers Awards (Student Division) Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $650 Topic: A paper may address any subject relevant to law librarianship. It may be scholarly or practical in substance and tone, but the subject should be explored in depth with appropriate reference to sources and documentation of assertions. Eligibility: Those enrolled in library school, information management school or the equivalent, or in law school, during the Fall 2022 or Spring 2023 semester. Entrants in the Student Division need not be members of AALL.
• ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Student Writing Contest Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Real property, trust and estate law.* Eligibility: Open to any law school student in good standing, over the age of 21, who is currently attending an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions, and who is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States. more... less... *“Real property, trust and estate law” is a broad category containing numerous practice disciplines. Without attempting to define the area precisely, the subject is intended to include matters within law school curricula in courses entitled: Property; Estate and Gift Tax; Wills and Decedents’ Estates; Real Estate Development; Environmental Law; Land Use Planning; Federal Taxation; Real Estate Finance; Secured Transactions; Debtors and Creditors; Employee Benefit Plans; Planning, Drafting and Negotiating Commercial Transactions; Taxation and Regulation of Non-Profit Organizations; Business Succession Planning; Life Insurance and Other Insurance Products; Trusts and Trust Law; Wealth Management; Fiduciary Income Taxation; Estate Planning; and Probate and Estate Administration.

Typically Held in May

These competitions have been held in May in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• UNIDROIT Essay Competition Deadline: May 1, 2022 Prize: 2,500 € Topic: Any relevant current or future UNIDROIT instrument(s) such as the UNIDROIT Principles on International Commercial Contracts, the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and its Protocols, the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, the UNIDROIT-FAO-IFAD Legal Guides on Contract Farming, and/or Agricultural Land Investment Contracts, among others.
• Chief Justice John B. Doolin Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $1,000 Eligibility: Open to any student enrolled in college, at any level.
• National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Bar Association Michael Greenberg Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: Legal issues affecting LGBTQ+ persons.
• AALL Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: Essays may be on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives.
• National Crime Victim Law Institute Annual Law Student Victims’ Rights Writing Competition Deadline: May 20, 2024 Prize: $200 Topic: Victims’ rights (preference given to papers focusing on rights enforcement in the context of criminal justice systems) Eligibility: Authors/presenters must be enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school at the date of their submission or have graduated from such a school within the last 18 months.
• IDEA Student IP Writing Competition Deadline: May 28, 2021 Prize: $500 Topic: Intellectual property law
• ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Writing Competitions Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: See link for details of eight separate writing competitions: Endangered Species, Energy Law, Forest Law, International Environmental and Resources Law, Native American Resources, Public Land and Resources, Superfund, Brownfields, and Resource Recovery, and Water Law
• American Association of Patent Judges Hon. Frederick E. McKelvey Memorial Scholarship Deadline: June 30, 2023 Prize: $500 Topic: For this year’s entry, an entrant must identify ways patents “promote the progress of … useful arts” (Const.; Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 8) and explain how the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) can encourage that. In your answer, please define “useful arts.” Eligibility: Students matriculated at and attending an ABA-accredited law school at least half-time as of February 28, 2022, are eligible to submit an entry for this competition.
• International Insolvency Institute Prize in International Insolvency Studies Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $3,000 Topic: Topics of international insolvency and restructuring significance and comparative international analysis of domestic insolvency and restructuring issues and developments. Eligibility: The Prize Competition is open to full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students and to practitioners in practice for nine years or less. Entries must not have been published.
• Judge John R. Brown Award for Excellence in Legal Writing Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: Up to $15,000 Eligibility: Any law student currently enrolled in an accredited law school in the United States seeking a J.D. or LL.B degree is eligible to submit a paper for the Award. The article must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a law school faculty member or legal professional other than the author of the paper.
• Georgetown Law Technology Student Writing Competition Deadline: May 31, 2023 Prize: $4,000 Topic: This year’s writing competition invites submissions on Personal Information, Power, and the Intersection of Technology and Society. Submitted papers should in some way address data-driven or data-intensive technologies. See link for further details and examples of potential topics. Eligibility: Papers will be accepted from students enrolled at any ABA-accredited law school in the United States during the 2021-2022 academic year. The paper must be the author’s own work, although students may incorporate feedback received as part of an academic course or supervised writing project. The paper must not have been published or committed for publication in another journal.
• Tax Notes Student Writing Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Topic: Submissions should focus on an unsettled question in federal, state, or international tax law or policy. Eligibility: The competition is open to any student currently enrolled in a law, business, or public policy program. Each student may submit only one paper. Co-authored papers will be accepted.

Typically Held in June

These competitions have been held in June in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Writing Contest Deadline: June 1, 2023 Prize: $1,800 Topic: Employee benefits legal topics Eligibility: Any J.D. and graduate (L.L.M. or S.J.D.) law students enrolled at any time between August 15, 2021, and August 15, 2022, who have not at any time engaged in the practice of law.
• American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics Health Law and Anti-Racism Graduate Student Writing Competition Deadline: July 1, 2023 Prize: $500 Topic: Note that a wide variety of topics will be viewed as in scope, but papers must focus specifically on health law in the context of anti-racism. If you have questions about the suitability of your topic, please ask.
• Notre Dame Smith-Doheny Legal Ethics Writing Competition Deadline: June 1, 2022 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Any issue within the general category of legal ethics. Eligibility: Open to all law students at U.S. and Canadian law schools.
• CITBA/University of Miami School of Law Andrew P. Vance Memorial Writing Competition Deadline: June 3, 2022 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Current issues relevant to customs and international trade law. Eligibility: Entrants must be currently enrolled in a J.D. or L.L.M. program at any of the nation’s law schools.
• ABA Commission on Disability Rights Adam A. Milani Writing Competition Deadline: June 9, 2023 Prize: Up to $1,000 Topic: The submission may address any aspect of disability law, theory, or practice the contestant chooses. Other permissible topics include issues arising under any of the following statutes: Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Age Discrimination in Employment Act; Family and Medical Leave Act; or any state statutes or municipal ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Eligibility: The competition is open to all students who attend a law school in the United States. Full-time students who are not law students but who write law-related papers as part of a course at an American law school are also eligible.
• Food and Drug Law Institute H. Thomas Austern Writing Competition Deadline: June 12, 2023 Prize: $750 Topic: Current legal issues concerning food, drugs, animal drugs, biologics, cosmetics, diagnostics, dietary supplements, medical devices, veterinary devices, cannabis, or tobacco
• ABA Section of Dispute Resolution James Boskey Essay Competition Deadline: June 9, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Any aspect of dispute resolution practice, theory or research that the contestant chooses. Eligibility: The competition is open to anyone, age 21 or older, who was a full-time or part- time J.D. law student, including students in joint J.D. degree programs, at an ABA-accredited law school during the 2020-21 academic year.
• American Journal of Mediation National Dispute Resolution Writing Competition Deadline: December 15, 2023 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Subject matter focus for entries can embrace the full range of the alternative dispute resolution field– consensus-based dispute resolution (e.g., negotiation, mediation), adjudicative processes (e.g., early neutral evaluation, binding or non-binding arbitration and private judging), or mixed processes (e.g., arb-med, med-arb, high low arbitration, baseball arbitration). Papers can also focus on ADR process design, practice techniques, specific case studies, related legislation, and ethical dilemmas and standards for dispute resolution professionals. Eligibility: The competition is open to all North American JD and LLM law students enrolled as of December 15, 2021.
• Chapman LLC Scholarship for Law Students Deadline: June 15, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Should collegiate athletes be paid? Argue for or against and provide at least 3 reasons for your position. Eligibility: Law student planning on attending, accepted to attend, or currently attending an accredited law school in the U.S.; U.S. citizen 18 years or older.
• Bloomberg Tax Insights Student Writing Competition Deadline: June 15, 2022 Prize: One-year subscription to Bloomberg Tax Topic: Tax policy Eligibility: You must be a part-time or full-time law student at an accredited U.S. law school or foreign equivalent, or a part-time or full-time student pursuing an undergraduate or graduate tax, accounting, or business degree. Co-authored or team papers are OK.
• College of Labor and Employment Lawyers Writing Competition for Law Students Deadline: June 15, 2022 Prize: $3,000 Topic: Labor and employment law
• ABA Forum on Construction Law’s Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Papers should address a topical issue of interest to the construction industry. Eligibility: The competition is open to any student age 21 years or older enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school during the academic years 2021 and 2022 of the competition who is a legal resident of the United States.
• ABA Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section K. William Kolbe Writing Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Papers should address a current topic of general interest in a legal area covered by the Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section (communications, cable TV, internet, electricity, gas, oil pipelines, aviation, railroads, and water industries).
• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Topic: The paper must relate to the area of trusts and estates, broadly defined. Entrants should write on issues of general interest, rather than state specific issues. Eligibility: Any law student in good standing (full-time or part-time) who is currently enrolled at the time of submission or was a student within the past 90-day period prior to submission as a J.D. or LL.M. candidate in an ABA-accredited law school within the United States or its possessions. more... less... Any one or more of the following topics are appropriate for discussion: Business Planning; Charitable Planning; Elder Law; Employee Benefits; Fiduciary Accounting; Fiduciary Administration; Fiduciary Income Taxation; Fiduciary Litigation; Estate Planning and Drafting; Professional Responsibility; Substantive Laws for the Gratuitous Transmission of Property; Wealth Transfer Taxation (Estate, Gift and GST Tax)
• American Intellectual Property Law Association Robert C. Watson Award Deadline: June 30, 2023 Topic: Intellectual property law
• American Society for Pharmacy Law Simonsmeier Award Deadline: June 30, 2023 Topic: Pharmacy law (law related to pharmacists, pharmacies, the provision of pharmaceutical care, the manufacturing and distribution of drugs, and other food, drug, and medical device policy issues) Eligibility: Papers published in or accepted for publication in any English-language peer-reviewed journal (including law reviews) during the period from January 2020 through December 2021 are eligible.
• Journal of Law in the Middle East by LexisNexis Student Essay Competition Deadline: June 30, 2022 Prize: LexisNexis MENA Book Collection, valued at over USD $1000 Topic: Discuss the legal and ethical considerations of AI applications, with a focus on the Middle East. Eligibility: At the time of submission, the student must be an LL.B., LL.M., Ph.D. or S.J.D. candidate at any institution in the world.
• American Planning Association Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Planning, planning law, land use law, local government law or environmental law Eligibility: Open to law students and planning students
• ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Award Competition Deadline: June 30, 2023 Prize: $5,000 Topic: The entry must discuss any topic relating to administrative law. Eligibility: The Competition is open to law students who are, at the time of entry, (a) enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school, (b) members of the ABA and the Section, (c) at least 21 years old, and (d) U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents.

Typically Held in July

These competitions have been held in July in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• ABA Criminal Section Justice Annual William W. Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition Deadline: July 1, 2023 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Technology-enhanced searches Eligibility: The contest is open to students who, on the date the entry is submitted, attend and are in good standing at an ABA-accredited law school within the United States and its possessions. Membership in the Criminal Justice Section is not a requirement. Entrants must be at least 21 years of age and legal permanent residents or citizens of the United States.
• American Inns of Court Warren E. Burger Prize Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Authors should address one or more aspects of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence within the legal profession.
• Arizona State Law Journal Criminal Justice Reform National Writing Competition Deadline: July 1, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Criminal justice reform Eligibility: Applicants must be enrolled full-time at an ABA-accredited law school at the time of submission.
• INS/IYNA Neuroethics Essay Contest Deadline: July 7, 2023 Prize: $250 Topic: Essay submissions can cover any topic in neuroethics and should address a focused problem at the intersections of the mind and brain sciences, ethics, and law. Example topics include, but are not limited to: neuroenhancement, neurolaw, moral psychology, moral philosophy, brain stimulation, ethics of neurodegenerative illness, neurogenetics, neurotechnology policy and regulation, philosophy of mind, clinical ethics in psychiatry and neurosurgery, neural imaging, big data and neuroscience, brain–computer interaction, military applications of neurotechnology, and free will. Notes: Those included in the definition of ‘post-secondary student’ or ‘early career trainees’ during the Spring 2022 semester may submit an essay to either the Academic or General Audience categories. Authors may submit two different essays — one to each category. See Neuroethics Essay Contest website for more information on essay categories.
• Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship Writing Competition Deadline: July 10, 2023 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Submitted papers must focus primarily upon technical or policy-oriented tax issues relating to any type of existing or proposed U.S. federal or state tax or U.S. federal or state taxation system (including topics relating to tax practice ethical and professional responsibility matters). See Competition Rules for more information.
• Esports Bar Association Journal Top Student Submission Deadline: July 15, 2022 Prize: $3,000 Topic: Esports and the law Eligibility: Submissions are open to current law students, law school faculty, attorneys, and other practitioners over the age of 18. You do not need to be a member of the EBA in order to submit.
• NYSBA Committee on Animals and the Law: Student Writing Competition Deadline: July 7, 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Animal law Eligibility: To be eligible for consideration, the submission must be written by a student currently enrolled (full time or part time) in an ABA-accredited law school. Students expecting to receive their degree in 2022 are eligible for consideration. The submission must be written by one, and only one student, i.e., papers jointly written by more than one student or that have been subjected to line editing by professors or advisors shall not be considered. No paper that has been previously published in any form shall be considered.
• Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Law School Writing Competition Deadline: July 15, 2022 Prize: $5,000 Topic: TAFEF wants to encourage the submission of articles that address topics in both federal and state False Claims Acts as well as the administrative programs that support whistleblowers and sanction fraudulent claims in government programs. Topics that fall within these parameters are eligible. Eligibility: For the 2022 competition, the article submitted to TAFEF must have appeared in a law journal or review during the 18-month period January 2021 through June 2022. If the law journal or review has not yet been published, you must certify that your submission has been accepted for publication in a law review or journal dated during that period.
• CLGI Global Climate Law and Governance Essay Competition Deadline: July 19, 2022 Topic: Essays can address any aspect of law and governance related to climate change or sustainable development, from local to global. This may include principles or provisions of the Paris Agreement and its Katowice Rulebook; recent trends in climate change dispute settlement and litigation; the challenges and opportunities of design, implementation and reform of legal and institutional frameworks for climate mitigation, adaptation/resilience or finance; climate aspects of trade and investment instruments; and human rights and climate justice. Eligibility: The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students. Students from least developed countries are especially encouraged to apply. Submissions may be co-authored.
• National Institute of Military Justice Rear Admiral John S. Jenkins Writing Award for Law Students Deadline: July 31, 2023 Prize: $250 Topic: Military law Eligibility: Papers and/or published articles are eligible for this award if they were written by a candidate for the J.D. in the previous academic year.

Typically Held in August

These competitions have been held in August in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• Education Law Association George Jay Joseph Award Deadline: August 1, 2022 Topic: The subject matter must address one or more legal issues within any of the various contexts of education, including public and private K-12 schools and institutions of higher education, especially current and emerging issues.
• Philadelphia Bar Association Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Pursuit of Justice Legal Writing Competition Deadline: August 1, 2023 Prize: $2,500 Topic: Candidates may submit a law review quality submission on any topic relating to rights, privileges, and responsibilities under federal law. Eligibility: Open to full-time and part-time law students who completed their second or third year of study by the end of the 2021-2022 academic year at one of the following six institutions : Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Rutgers Law School, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and Widener University Delaware Law School. Part-time law students who were in their third or later year of study during the 2021-2022 academic year are also eligible.
• National Association of Women Lawyers Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: February 1, 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: Entrants should submit a paper on an issue concerning, in your opinion, the most pressing issue related to advancing equality in the legal field. Topics can include but are not limited to, examining race, gender, sex, feminism, LGBTQIA+, pay equity, equal education, and employment opportunity, and or the Equal Rights Amendment, etc. Eligibility: Essays will be accepted from students enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school during the 2020-2021 school year. The essays must be the law student author’s own work and must not have been submitted for publication elsewhere. Papers written by students for coursework or independent study during the summer, fall, or spring semesters are eligible for submission. Notwithstanding the foregoing, students may incorporate professorial feedback as part of a course requirement or supervised writing project.
• Sarin McGill Annual Student Essay Contest on Aircraft Finance & Leasing Registration Deadline: TBA for 2024 Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: Airfare and accommodations to tour McGill University's Institute of Air and Space Law. Topic: Following the Russian Federation’s re-registration, without the consent of the lessors or the states of registration, of aircraft leased to Russian operators, what are the implications for leasing and financing of aircraft, for the Chicago Convention, for the rule of law generally, and especially for third countries to which any such aircraft may be flown? Are there any precedents and, if so, how may they be compared and contrasted with the current situation? What solutions might there be? Eligibility Any student of law, enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate or doctoral programme in any law school or legal professional training school worldwide, at the time of submission of the entry, shall be considered eligible.
• Goettingen Journal of International Law Essay Competition Deadline: August 1, 2021 Topic: The pandemic continues to be omnipresent in our lives and gives rise to a number of legal questions, including in international law. GoJIL is seeking student contributions that explore such questions from novel and interesting perspectives.

Typically Held in September

These competitions have been held in September in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• Philadelphia Bar Association Law Student Essay Contest Deadline: September 6, 2022 Prize: $500 Topic: Advice for new or aspiring law school applicants Eligibility: Any rising 2L, rising 3L, or recently graduated law student attending a Philadelphia area law school (University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, Widener University Delaware Law School, Rutgers University Law School-Camden)
• ABA Aviation and Space Law Committee Writing Competition Deadline: September 9, 2022 Prize: $500 Topic: Submissions should address a recent development in any area of aviation or space law or discuss an area of aviation or space law where a controversy or disagreement exist. Eligibility The competition is open to all current U.S. citizen law student and LLM candidates. Membership in the ABA, TIPS or the Aviation and Space Law is not required for participation, though membership is free for all law students.
• PIABA Foundation James E. Beckley Student Writing Competition Deadline: September 16, 2022 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Any aspect of Securities Law; Securities Arbitration; The Federal Arbitration Act, Title 9, US Code, Section 1-14; or FINRA Code of Arbitration, effective April 16, 2007 and any changes or proposed changes to that Code. Eligibility: The competition is open to all students who attend a law school in the United States. Full-time students who are not law students but who write law-related papers as part of a course at an American law school are also eligible.
• International Fiscal Association International Tax Student Writing Competition Deadline: September 30, 2023 Prize: $5,000 Topic: Any topic relating to U.S. taxation of income from international activities, including taxation under U.S. tax treaties. Eligibility: All students during the 2021-22 academic year (including independent study and summer 2022 school courses) pursuing a graduate degree (J.D., L.L.M., S.J.D., M.S.T., MTA, Masters of Taxation, or similar program). Any appropriate papers written in fall 2021 or spring and summer 2022.
• ABA Section of Public Contract Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: September 30, 2022 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Papers should address a topical issue of interest to the public contract and grant law community. Eligibility: To be eligible to participate in the Competition, as of September 30, 2022 entrants must be 21 or over, U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents of the United States; and current members in good standing of the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Section of Public Contract Law (ABA and Section membership dues paid in full for the current bar year). more... less... Unpublished papers prepared for law school credit are eligible for entry in the Competition. Papers prepared for law school credit that have been submitted to or published by the Public Contract Law Journal are also eligible for the Competition. Papers that have been published in media other than the Public Contract Law Journal prior to September 30, 2022 are not eligible for the Competition. Papers submitted for publication in media other than the Public Contract Law Journal are not eligible for the Competition, unless the other publication agrees that the Public Contract Law Journal shall have the right of first publication of the winning essay.

Typically Held in October

These competitions have been held in October in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• American Agricultural Law Association Modern Agricultural Legal Issues Essay Contest Deadline: October 14, 2022 Topic: Agricultural law Eligibility: The competition is open to law students who are, at the time of entry, (a) enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school, (b) pursuing a J.D. degree; and (c) at least 18 years old.

Typically Held in November

These competitions have been held in November in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• NYSBA Albert S. Pergam International Law Writing Competition Award Deadline: November 3, 2023 Prize: $2,000 Topic: Public or private international law Eligibility: Law Students (including J.D., LL.M., Ph.D. and S.J.D. candidates) are cordially invited to submit to the International Section an article concerning any area of public or private international law or practice. Faculty members of any college or university are ineligible to participate.
• vLex International Law and Technology Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: £1,500 Topic: Can choose one of three topics: law, technology and sports; law, technology and climate; or law, technology and crypto. See competition page for more information. Eligibility: All current students and recent graduates can enter.
• American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers Writing Competition Deadline: November 1, 2023 Prize: $1,500 Topic: Eligible entries must discuss some aspect of U.S. consumer financial services law. Topics that relate principally to securities regulation, bankruptcy, insurance, or the safety and soundness aspects of banking regulation are not eligible, but works on subjects within these (or other) areas will be considered if they bear directly on U.S. consumer financial services.
• Video Game Bar Association David S. Rosenbaum Scholarship Deadline: Contact [email protected] Prize: $2,500 Topic: Video games and the law. Potential topics could include: developments in game accessibility; reputation management and user-creations (mods, skins, etc.); game developer unionization and labor rights.
• Dukeminier Awards Jeffrey S. Haber Prize for Student Scholarship Deadline: TBA for 2023 Prize: $1,000 Topic: Sexual orientation and gender identity law

Typically Held in December

These competitions have been held in December in prior academic years. Check each link for the latest information.

• ABA Health Law Section Student Writing Competition Deadline: December 31, 2021 Prize: $500 Topic: Any aspect of health law
• National Law Review Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: Monthly (reviewed September through May) Notes: The NLR Law Student Writing Competition offers law students the opportunity to submit articles for publication consideration on the NLR Web site.
• Houston Journal of International Law James Baker Hughes Prize Deadline: Information on the 2022 James Baker Hughes Prize coming soon. Prize: $500 Notes: The manuscript’s focus must be on international economic law.
• ABA Standing Committee on Law & National Security Writing Competition Deadline: TBD Notes: The Law Student Writing Competition will not be held for the 2020-2021 academic year.
• American Bankruptcy Institute Bankruptcy Law Student Writing Competition Deadline: TBD Prize: $2000 Notes: As of January 26, 2021, The Annual ABI Law Student Writing Competition will not be held this year. We hope to be able to resume the competition in future years.
• ELI Constitutional Environmental Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBD Prize: $2000 Topic: Any topic addressing developments or trends in U.S. environmental law with a significant constitutional, “federalism,” or other cross-cutting component.
• Hofstra Law School and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Family Law Writing Competition Deadline: TBA for 2024 Prize: $500 Topic: The subject of entries may be within any area of family law, although topics that focus on international or interdisciplinary subjects of family law are especially encouraged.
• If/When/How Sarah Weddington Writing Prize for New Student Scholarship in Reproductive Rights Law Deadline: TBD Prize: $750 Topic: Reproductive rights and justice issues in the U.S.
• International Association of Gaming Advisors Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award Deadline: TBD Notes: Each year IAGA awards prizes for the best scholarly research papers written by accredited law school students as part of their class work during the current school year. To be considered for the award, each submitted paper must either enhance the understanding of gaming law or recommend a beneficial gaming law change.
• LSAC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Writing Competition Deadline: TBD Prize: $5,000 Eligibility: All currently enrolled law students pursuing a JD degree are eligible for the competition.

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2022-2023 Law Essay Writing Competition

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Hogan Lovells Equality and Diversity Essay Competition 2022

This essay competition is open to all undergraduate students in the Oxford Law Faculty, including those who were finalists in the 2021-2022 academic year.

Competition entries will be judged by a distinguished panel comprised of Rt Hon Lord Justice Singh ,  Kristin van Zwieten   and  Ciara Kennefick .

A prize of £1,000 will be awarded to the winner of the competition. This sum has been set with a view to enabling the prize-winner to take up opportunities for vacation work that might otherwise be inaccessible given travel and accommodation costs. The winning essay will also be published on the Oxford Law website.

A second prize of £250 will be awarded to the runner-up.

The judges may, at their discretion, select additional essays for special commendation. 

Essay question

This year’s question is: What is the role of law in ensuring equality of opportunity in society?

Submissions will be evaluated by reference to the clarity and cogency of the argument developed in response to the question.

Word limit and style

Your essay must be no longer than 2,500 words, including all footnotes/endnotes.

Footnotes/endnotes should be in OSCOLA format. Bibliographies are not required.

Essays should be typed and submitted in Word format, using size 12 font.

Submission process

Essays must be submitted to [email protected] by no later than midday on Monday 19 September 2022 . The winner and runner-up will be announced in the first three weeks of Michaelmas term.

Your covering email should include a statement that the essay you are submitting is entirely your own work, except for where otherwise indicated, as well as a statement of the word count (again, including footnotes/endnotes).

Essays will be anonymised before being given to any judge for evaluation.

Download the terms of the competition

On this page

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International Law and Technology Writing Competition

This year’s competition is now closed. Follow vLex on social media to find out about next year's competition.

Students from hundreds of universities worldwide have taken part.

Over ten thousand pounds has been awarded to students.

Winning articles reach thousands of legal professionals worldwide.

The writing competition

This year's competition is now closed

For the seventh consecutive year, the vLex International Law and Technology Writing Competition invites students from around the world to submit a 1000-word, blog-style article on one of three topics. The overall winner will receive a grand prize of £1,500, alongside the publication of their entry to a global legal audience. Additionally, each runner-up will be awarded £250 each for Best in Category.

Three new categories

vLex has picked three new writing categories for this year's competition. Whichever one of these topics you choose to focus on, your submission must clearly identify how the law and technology have had an impact on the key topic. Explore the keywords below to kick-start your research.

Immigration

A focus on immigration, linking to technology and law.

How has technology played an integral role in the governance, lives and legal rights of refugees? How can law practices use technology to best serve clients with complex immigration cases? What impact do surveillance and artificial intelligence technologies have on immigration and human rights laws? These are just examples of questions that your article could address. Your article could also focus on lessons learned from border enforcement strategies, international politics, or the role of sociocultural factors: this category is open for interpretation.

Keywords: Asylum, Humanitarian Protection, Citizenship, Common Travel Area, Deportation, Human Rights, Refugee, Migration, Indefinite Leave to Remain, Immigration Rules, European Economic Area (EEA), Judicial Review, Settled, Work Permits, and economic, socio-cultural and political factors.

Large Language Models

A focus on large language models, and how they are shaping technology and the law.

Could large language models revolutionise the legal industry? Do the shortcomings of large language models outweigh the benefits to legal practices? How is large language model technology influencing the law and legal research? These are just examples of questions that your article could address, this category is open for interpretation.

Keywords: AI Model, ChatGPT, Text Classification, Characterization, Data Set, Training, Summarisation, Retrieval, Optimisation, Generate, Semantic Search, Recommendation System.

Industrial Action

A focus on industrial action in relation to technology and the law.

Has greater access to the law and technology influenced recent strike action? What role has technology played in the evolution of employment law? How do trade union reps utilise technology and the law to navigate industrial negotiations on pay, terms and conditions, ect? These are just examples of questions that your article could address, this category is open for interpretation. Your article could also focus on protecting workers' rights, conditions, and standards, ensuring the workforce has a voice, public opinions, and so on.

Keywords: Striking, Picketing, Worker's Rights, Workplace Conditions, Labour, Pay, Unfair Dismissal, Trade Union, Ballot, Industrial Dispute .

Submission guidelines

Competition rules.

Please read the submission instructions in full. Then complete the registration form.

You must use your university email address, or attach proof of student status upon entry. This can include a dated official letter from your university or student identification, which must show an expiry date. If you are due to graduate before the end of the competition, please submit an alternative email address too.

• All entries must be submitted in a Word document format (.doc or .docx)
• You must be over the age of 18 to enter the competition.
• All entries must be in English and should not include any images.
• All entries must include the title of the article within the Word document.
• Please name your Word document files appropriately. The suggested naming convention: Your name - Article Title
• Before submitting, you agree to have read and understood all terms and conditions.
• Only submit original writing, that you have written for this competition. All entries will be subject to plagiarism checks.
• All entries must be submitted before 23:59 UK time, on Jan 1, 2024.

Additional guidance

Importantly, your article needs to consider both the law, technology and the key topic. Your article can answer important questions for your chosen area, such as, how does technology impact the law? Or how did technology help drive change in the law where legislative gaps once existed?

Your article needs to be about real-world events and cannot be entity fiction. If fiction is to play a role in your article - whether used to demonstrate a scenario or potential future event, ensure the reader understands how that connects with what is happening in the real world.

Data, research and examples are good. Some of our best and winning articles give a clear indication as to why the topic they are writing about is important, using data, research and examples. The reader of your article may not know the topic as well as you do, hence why it is important for you to make this clear from the start: Why is this topic important, why should the reader care (and importantly keep on reading), and what are the key ‘takeaways’ from the article.

Before you start writing, please read the guidance below, submission criteria and competition terms. You can submit one entry per category. Need some inspiration? Read all the past winning articles on the vLex Blog .

I have just graduated, can I enter?

Unfortunately, at the time of submission (Jan 1, 2024), you need to be a registered student.

Do I need to be a law student to enter?

No, you can be a student from any discipline to enter the competition.

Can articles have dual authorship?

All articles must be written by a single author and should not contain any content unless correctly referenced.

What reference style should be used?

Remember this is a blog-style article, where links are usually used directly with the text. If you wish to use a reference style please use Harvard or OSCOLA.

Can I add images or appendices?

Unfortunately, no images or appendices can be included in your articles.

What can I use as proof of student status?

Please submit your article using your university or college email. If you do not have one, please attached a dated letter from your university confirming your student status, or a valid student identification with an expiry date visible.

Hall of fame

Overall winners.

• 2023, Lucy Cameron, University of Oxford, for Keeping Up With Kryptocurrency
• 2022, Rahul Vyan Nayar, National University of Singapore, for Thaler, Artificial Intelligence and the Law
• 2021, Anokhy Desai, University of Pittsburgh, USA, for Amending 230 for Public Safety
• 2020, Malwina Anna Wojcik, University of Bologna, Italy, for Machine-learnt bias?
• 2019, Kim Rust, University of Sheffield, UK, for Block-chain reaction
• 2018, Roisin Costello, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, for The Tortoise and the Hare?

Best in category winners

• Juliette Groothaert, University of Bristol, for Big Data Analytics in Sports: its Controllership, Privacy, and Commercialisation, 2023
• Xiaoli Jin, Harvard Law School, for How to Measure Crypto Decentralization: Reconciling a Legal and Technical Approach, 2023
• George Jeffreys, University of Law, for Why Patents and Climate Change Just Don’t Mix, 2023
• Brian Collins Ocen, Makerere University, Uganda – Winner of the Future category, 2022
• Joshua Neaman, City, University of London – Winner of the Past category, 2022
• Malcolm Superville, The Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad and Tobago – Winner of the Present category, 2022
• Keshinro Oluwalani Deborah, The University of Lagos – Movement, Law & Technology, 2021
• Sara Kachwalla, BPP University – Influence, Law & Technology, 2021
• Malcolm Superville, The University of the West Indies – Money, Law & Technology, 2021
• Armin Amirsolimani, University College London – Access to justice and technology, 2020
• Janis Wong, University of St Andrews – Social media, data and privacy, 2020
• Alicia Lim, London School of Economics – Technology and the future of legal practice, 2020
• Eleanor De of City, University of London – Access to Justice and Technology, 2019
• Iphigenia Fisentzou, BPP University – Social Media, Technology and the Law, 2019
• Walter Myer, University of Oxford – The Future of Legal Technology, 2019
• Patrick Alexander Hum, London School of Economics, 2018
• Secil Bilgic, Harvard University, 2018
• Jae Jun Kim, University of Auckland, 2018

Past judges

• Dr. Shaun Wallace, Barrister and The Dark Destroyer on ITV1’s The Chase
• Robert Rinder, Barrister, Presenter and Columnist for The Sun and the Evening Standard
• The Secret Barrister, Barrister and author of the award-winning No. 1 bestseller The Secret Barrister
• Richard Tromans, Founder and CEO of Tromans Consulting and Artificial Lawyer
• Aishah Hussain, Reporter for LegalCheek, the most read legal website in the UK
• Emily Allbon, Senior Lecturer, Director of Mooting, Assistant Dean Student Experience and Communication, City, University of London
• Dr Liz Dowthwaite, Research Fellow in Horizon Digital Economy at the Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub at the University of Nottingham
• Prof. Roger V. Skalbeck, Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Library and Information Services for University of Richmond School of Law
• Nicole Allaband, Editor-in-Chief, Richmond Journal of Law & Technology
• James Williams, Annual Survey & Symposium Editor, Richmond Journal of Law & Technology
• Ilya Mirov, Senior Articles Editor, Richmond Journal of Law & Technology
• Eli Hill, Annual Survey & Symposium Editor, Richmond Journal of Law & Technology
• Ruth Bird, Former Bodleian Law Librarian, University of Oxford, and former Vice President of the International Association of Law Libraries
• Tom Bangay, Director of Content, Juro
• David F. Wills, Editor, Legal Information Management (LIM); Squire Law Librarian, University of Cambridge
• Masoud Gerami, Managing Director for vLex Global Markets
• Aidan Hawes, Head of Commercial Development, vLex Global Markets
• Nicola Stephenson, Head of Training, vLex Global Markets

Everything you need to know to enter The vLex International Law and Technology Writing Competition.

The International Law & Technology Writing Competition (the “competition” and “LITWC” ) is open to students aged 18 and over, with the exception of employees of vLex, their family members, or anyone else connected to the competition. All information detailing how to enter forms part of these terms and conditions.

It is a condition of entry that all rules are accepted as final, and that the entrant agrees to abide by these rules. Submission of an entry will be taken as an acceptance of these terms and conditions.

To enter the competition, you must write a blog-style article of no more than 1,000 of your own words on one of the proposed topics. Please do not include any pictures. Entries with photos, diagrams or illustrations may be excluded.

A maximum of one entry in each category is permitted per entrant. You may only enter each individual submission in one category, but you may write another submission about a different topic for a different category. See below for prize terms.

Submissions should be entered using the form provided on the competition page in Word format only. You must state which of the categories you are entering, and must include your full name, email address, university or college and country of residence. Failure to include valid information, or excluding information, may void your entry.

Entries must be the original work of the individual submitting them and must not have been published before in any other publication (or on any website), they must not contain any third party materials and/or content that you do not have permission to use, must not promote your own or third party goods or services, or include any trademarks and must not promote inappropriate or dangerous behaviour, or otherwise be obscene, defamatory, distasteful, offensive or in breach of any confidentiality obligations owed by you to any third party. Joint submissions are not allowed.

If you have any questions about how to enter or otherwise in connection with the competition, please email us at [email protected] with “International Law & Technology Writing Competition” in the subject line.

The competition closes at 23:59 GMT on Jan 1, 2024. Entries received after this time will not be considered. vLex reserves the right to extend the closing date for a reasonable period of time where an insufficient number of entries have satisfied the entry and judging criteria.

You own the copyright to your submission as its author. However, by submitting an entry to the competition you grant a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual license to vLex and their partners to feature any or all of the submission in any of its publications, its websites and/or in any promotional material connected to this competition listed on this page or otherwise. You also grant vLex and their partners the right to use your name, academic institution and country of residence for the sole purpose of identifying you as the author of your submission and/or as a winner or runner-up of the competition. This also applies to the authors of shortlisted entries.

We may disqualify your competition entry for the following reasons: your entry does not comply with these terms and conditions; you are not eligible to enter the competition; you are unable to provide proof of your student status; you cannot be contacted. In the event of disqualification(s), we may reselect winners in accordance with the selection and/or judging processes.

Should you wish to withdraw from the competition for any reason, please email us at [email protected]. The competition will be judged by a panel of representatives of vLex. The judges will choose one winning entry for the competition, and one runner-up in each of the three categories. The judges’ decision will be made on or before April 2024, with this date subject to change at any time. The winner and runners-up will be contacted by email after this date. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

The overall winner will receive a prize by BACS and the three runners-up will each receive a prize by BACS or other suitable payment method approved by vLex, and have their submission published in the company newsletter, on the blog section of the vLex and vLex Justis websites, and published by vLex partner(s) in accordance with the benefits stated on this page. This could include publishing your entry on their website, in their publications and more.

Shortlisted entries may also have their submission posted on the blog section of the vLex and vLex Justis websites and/or by partners. All shortlisted entries will be made available to partners for publication.

Each entrant is only eligible for a single prize. This excludes the overall winner from also winning a runners-up prize with a second submission or an individual entrant from winning multiple runners-up prizes with a second or third submission.vLex reserves the right to substitute the prizes with other prizes of similar value.

vLex reserves the right at any time to modify these terms and conditions, or to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, this competition with or without prior notice due to reasons outside its reasonable control (including, without limitation, in the case of anticipated, suspected or actual fraud). The decision of vLex in all matters relating to the competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into. vLex will not be liable for any failure to comply with its obligations relating to this competition where the failure is caused by something outside its reasonable control. The competition and these terms and conditions will be governed under the laws of England and Wales, and entrants to the competition submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

For students

More competitions.

Follow vLex on social media to find out about all future student competitions.

• Student Legal Writing Competitions - March 2023
• December 16, 2022
• Announcements

The following are writing competitions to which law students may be eligible to submit their writings. For future writing competition deadlines and competitions by subject, see the Library’s  Student Legal Writing Competitions Guide .

White River Environmental Law Writing Competition "Applicants are invited to submit original essays addressing any relevant topic in the fields of environmental law, natural resource law, energy law, environmental justice, land use law, animal law, and agricultural law." Deadline: approx. March, annually

SIEL/JIEL/OUP Essay Prize "The SIEL/JIEL/OUP Prize is an essay prize, jointly established by the Society of International Economic Law, the Journal of International Economic Law, and Oxford University Press, to award the best essay submitted on any topic in the field of international economic law." Deadline: March 14, 2022

Law & Social Inquiry Graduate Student Paper Competition Coordinated by American Bar Foundation Deadline: March 15, 2022

Diane and Stephen Uhl Essay Competition for Law School Students 2022 Topic: Craft an argument that religious exemptions from vaccine requirements are not legally required, addressing constitutional questions as well as other legal issues raised by such mandates. Deadline: March 15, 2022.

Trandafir Writing Competition Any contemporary international business or economic concern within the discipline of law. Deadline: March 17, 2023. Annual competition.

Sports Lawyers Association Student Writing Competition Deadline: March 26, 2021. Annual

International Insolvency Institute Prize in International Insolvency Studies The Prize is awarded for original legal research, commentary or analysis on topics of international insolvency and restructuring significance and on comparative international analysis of domestic insolvency and restructuring issues and developments. Deadline: March 31, 2023. Annual competition.

National Law Review 2021-2022 Law Student Writing Competition "straightforward and practical, containing useful information of interest to legal and business professionals" Suggested Topics: - Election Law and Access to Voting - President Trump and current administration - Tax Issues - Immigration enforcement and policy - Federal Court issues: process of adding additional justices to the US Supreme Court/Federal Circuit - Employment Issues - Ban the Box Laws, Minimum Wage, Transgender Accommodations, Age/Sex Discrimination Deadline: 5:00 pm Central Standard Time by the last day of the month.

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Top 5 Essay Competitions For Law Students in 2022

The new year brings forth new opportunities. Law students are always on the lookout for new challenges and competitions. In this article Team YLCC brings you latest information on leading essay competitions you can apply for. Read on!

• NLIU BHOPAL SHORT STORY WRITING UNDER ‘E- NYAYAGANGA’ ON NATIONAL GIRL CHILD DAY.

Last date of registration – 23 January, 2022 by 2 pm.

Results on – 24 January, 2022  by 6 pm.

Registration fees –  No registration fees.

Prize money – First prize – 5000/- INR .

Second prize – 3000/- INR.

Third prize –  2000/- INR.

Certificate to all the participants.

Theme – The importance of Girl Child in society and Nation Building.

Mode of competition – Online.

Eligibility – No criteria for eligibility.

Submissions procedure  & guidelines –

• The Story must be in a word file converted to PDF.
• Formatting –  Font theme – Times New Roman

Spacing –  1.5

Font size – Heading – 16, Body – 12.

Footnotes – Font size – 10, Spacing – 1.0

• The submitted Short story Copyright will be vested to NLU, Bhopal.
• Maximum words – 1000.
• Language – In all Indian vernacular language including Hindi & English.
• The story must depict the theme it may also related to any issues if patriarchal society, social issues of recent times or of government schemes and polices.
• Selected story will be published on NLU, Bhopal websites.
• Submit your story via this link provided below-   https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJXdPs6YkjdCclW7PQIdSo0UtzNn27xox7kVsvQ8bGBidXIA/viewform

2. RASHTRIYA RAKSHA UNIVERSITY’S ESSAY COMPETITION.

Last date of registration – 27 January.

Registration fees – Not required .

Prize – RS 15,000/- INR.

Subscription to exclusive legal database.

Certificates of participation.

Theme –  Commentary on State practice on the present International law commission Agenda Items.

You can comment on any Nation’s state practice on the following topics-

• Provisional Application of Treaties.
• Protection of Atmosphere.
• Immunity of State Officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction
• Protection of Environment in relation to armed conflict
• Peremptory norms of general international law (jus cogens)
• Succession of State in respect to state responsibility.
• General Principals of Law.
• Sea level rise in relation to international law
• Crimes Against Humanity.
•  Piracy and Armed Robbery.

Mode of competition –  Physical.

Competition Date – 4 th February.

Submissions procedure and guidelines –

• Word limit – 3500 words.
• Footnotes must be as per the late OSCOLA edition.
• Entries to be sent to [email protected] , with there name, address, contact details.

3. GLOBAL ESSAY COMPETITION FOR ST.GALLEN SYMPOSIUM.

Last date of registration –  1 February, 2022. 11:59 PM.

Results in – mid March via e-mail.

Prize –  Jury will decide three awards based on the quality of the content.

             16,28, 894 will be divided among the three awardees.

Eligibility –

• Any field college student can apply who is born in or after 1992 .

You need to provide the following documents-

• Copy of passport or other identification (in English for non Roman languages)
• Confirmation of matriculation/enrolment from your university which proves your enrolment in a graduate/postgraduate level programme as of February 1, 2022 (download sample document here).
• Your contribution file with no indication of your name in the file name, the file metadata or the file itself.

Theme – Collaborative Advantage: What should be written into a new intergenerational contract?

• Word limit – 2,100 ( excluding abstracts, bibliography and footnotes).
• Language – Only English.
• Your identification details such as name, e-mail, contact must not be there in the contribution file.
• The idea should be of your own and related to theme and for the contest.
• All the contribution must be citied and the file will go through a plagiarism check.
• Must be doc, docx or PDF format.
•  The best competitors will be given a chance to present there content on a big stage through a video and they will be informed before.

For further details click on the link below-

4. NATIONAL ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION BY ANAND LAW COLLEGE

Last date of registration – February 15 th , 2022.

Registration fees – 100/-.

Bank Name : Bank of Baroda

Account Holder Name : Anand Law College

Account No. : 02940100001292

IFSC Code: BARBOANANDX [Fifth Character is Zero]

(Please mention the subject as “Essay Writing” while making the payment)

Prize – 1st Prize: Trophy & Certificate of Merit

2nd Prize : Trophy & Certificate of Merit

3rd Prize : Trophy & Certificate of Merit

 An E- Certificate of participation will be issued to all the participants

Eligibility – For all law students.

• Juveniles should be treated and tried as adults.

 • Violent video games should be banned.

• Animal testing should be prohibited.

Submission procedure and guidelines-

• Plagiarism up to 20%  is acceptable.
• Original work of the participants.
• The essay must deal with the current issues in this field and analytical in nature.
• Word limit – 1000-1200 words.
• Language – only English.
• File format – docx .
• Font – Times New Roman.
• Font size – 12
• Line spacing – 1.5.
• File name – title of the essay.
• Submit via e-mail- [email protected] , Subject – Essay writing Submission.
• These details are to be submitted in separately in word –
• Topic Chosen
• Title of the Essay
• Name of the Author
• College/Institute/University of Author
• Programme Enrolled & Year of Study of Author
• E-mail address & Contact No. of Author.
• The payment receipt and registration form  should be attached with it.
• ALLIANCE CENTRE FOR ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ACADR) ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION.

Last date of registration – 15 April, 2022.

Results on – 15 th March, 2022.

Last Submission Date – 30 th April, 2022.

Registration fees – No fees.

Registration link https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=ZXera4fDDU2b539WeSUVlCTQLhc0HyZOhlPi7fx6vJpUMlUzOVY3QkdSTlUzSllZT1pYNlNJTzJFVS4u

Prize – Five best essays will be published ACDR Newsletter.

Top ten best submissions shall also be awarded merit certificates by ACADR, Alliance School of Law, Alliance University, Bangalore.

Eligibility – All law students.

Theme – Impact of Judicial Intervention in the Field of ADR is a Boon or a Bane.

• Co-authorship of entries (maximum two) among individuals.
• Essay should be original, unpublished, and non-plagiarized.
• Word limit : 1000-1200 words.
• Citation style: Uniform style of citation should be followed throughout the essay.
• File  name – Name of the Author(s) .
• File format – Microsoft Word format.
•  submissions via email to [email protected]

YLCC would like to thank Aarushi Tiwari for her valuable contribution in this article.

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Law Reform Essay competition

The Bar Council's Law Reform Essay Competition is aimed at developing and fostering an interest in law reform. Students and pupils are invited to submit essays making the case to reform English, Welsh and European law.

The Law Reform Essay Competition 2024 will be opening in early summer. Please check this page for details.

The competition prizes are available in the following categories:

• The winner: £4,000, and their essay published on Counsel magazine's website
• Runner-up: £2,500 
• Best GDL entry: £1,500
• Runner-up GDL entry: £1,000
• Highly commended award: 2 x £500

We hope that the prize money will be used to contribute to the legal education or legal career of the prize winners.

In addition, all prize winners will be invited to meet members of the Law Reform Committee at a small reception held at a set of chambers.

Previous winners and barristers share their thoughts on the competition, and offer essay-writing tips.

• Read the essays and blogs from the 2023 winners
• Read winning entries from previous years

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• Lily Thomas's Essay Writing...

Lily Thomas's Essay Writing Competition 2022

Livelaw news network.

2 Nov 2022 1:05 PM GMT

'The Future of Truth and Freedom of Press in Today's Era' is the theme for the article writing competition this year.

The competition will be open to law students, advocates, legal professionals, journalists and academicians. The last date of submission is now extended to 22nd November 2022 from 15th November due to the high volume of participants and requests in this regard.

During the Memorial Lectures scheduled for 12th December 2022, the top three candidates will be given the opportunity to present their article, and each will be allocated two minutes for this purpose.

The top three articles will be published on one of the leading legal magazines of India and also on the website of Lily Thomas and Saju Jakob, apart from various cash prizes.

First Runner-up: Rs 5,000 along with a Certificate of Appreciation.

Second Runner-up: Rs 3,000 along with a Certificate of Appreciation.

The next seven participants will receive Rs 1,000 each and a Certificate of Appreciation.

All other participants will be given a certificate of attendance, if they take part in the Memorial lecture on 12th December at 4.15 Pm. Results will be announced on December 12, 2022, in the Memorial Lecture and details will also be uploaded to the Website of www.lilythomas.org. Link of the memorial lectures will be uploaded on the Website also.

Word limit: 1600-1800 words (excluding footnotes and abstract). No co-authorship is allowed. Multiple entries for the same author are not allowed.

Article submissions should include the author's name, contact information, and current academic status (if applicable). Citations must be formatted according to the 19th edition of the Bluebook. The font size should be 12, Times New Roman, and the line spacing should be 1.5. All interested participants should submit their articles, along with abstracts, on or before November 22, 2022, by 23.45 hours. Essays should be sent to the office of Lily Thomas and Saju Jakob, Advocates and Solicitors, via email at [email protected] . Participants must send their personal/contact details. Any late submission will not be considered. Registration to the competition is free and open to all.

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Eduvision Essay Writing Competition 2024

Eduvision announces Essay Writing Competition 2024 for students aged between 14 to 18 years. Students from all over Pakistan can participate in the competition. 600 to 700 words essay on the topic of "What is the greatest virtue" written in Urdu or English may be sent to eduvision through courier or normal post before June 01, 2024.

The result of the competition will be announced on July 01, 2024. The top three position holders will receive an award of PKR: 10,000/-, PKR: 5,000 and pkr: 3,000/- each. An online training workshop will be arranged for the participants. Certificates of honor will be given to all the students who participated in the competition.

• First Prize: Rs.10000
• Second Prize: 5000 rupees
• Third Prize: 3000 rupees

Last date of submission is 01 June 2024.

Terms & Conditions

• Essay should contain 600 to 700 words.
• Essay should be in Urdu or English language.
• Articles must arrive before the due date.
• Essay should be written on A4 size paper

Eligibility

To participate in the competition, the age of male and female students should be between 14 to 18 years.

An online workshop will be conducted exclusively on "Essay Writing" by Career Counselor Yusuf Almas for all the students participating in the competition.

Submission Procedure: Send your essay through Pakistan Post or Courier to the given address to reach the Education Office by the due date.

House: 70, St-92,

G-13/1, Islamabad 

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De-Coding Indian Intellectual Property Law

Announcing the 2024 Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on Intellectual Property Law

Celebrating our founder Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer’s 48th birth anniversary, SpicyIP is thrilled to announce the 2024 edition of the Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on Intellectual Property Law!

As many would know, his intellectual passion and incessant curiosity continues to inspire and motivate the thousands of lives that he touched. The essay competition continues in this spirit, aiming to foster a culture of relentless inquiry and growth, as well as to celebrate his memory and his legacy of outstanding scholarship. A master with the pen, Prof. Basheer was a prolific writer. Apart from publishing extensively in academic journals (most of the publications can be accessed on his SSRN page ), he was also the rare Indian academic who wrote extensively for law students and the lay audience, through various media such as SpicyIP and mainstream newspapers. A collection of all his publications and public interest interventions can be found on SpicyIP here (also accessible from our Resources page ) as well as on shamnad.com (a website dedicated to him).

In his time, Prof. Basheer won prizes in three prestigious essay competitions. The first was an essay competition held by the Stanford Technology Law Review. He won the second prize in that competition for a great piece on the ‘Policy Style’ Reasoning of the Indian Patent Office . The second essay competition that he won was held by the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP) for young academics. Shamnad won the very first edition of that competition for his essay on Section 3(d) of the Patents Act. The third was an essay competition held by CREATe on the topic of how Artificial Intelligence would change the practice of intellectual property law. Prof. Basheer won the second prize in that competition for his essay titled ‘Artificial Invention: Mind the Machine’ .

We are thrilled to announce that we once again have a fantastic panel of judges for the Competition, and incidentally all three of them have not only been huge supporters of the blog for several years now, but we’ve also had the pleasure of them having published on the blog! Please see below for further details! 

Submission Guidelines

The details of the competition are as follows:

Eligibility : The competition will be open to students currently enrolled in any LL.B. program (or its equivalent – meaning students enrolled in J.D. programs can take part) across the world, as well as to those who have completed their first law degree in 2022 or later.

Registration : There is no registration fee or registration process for the competition. You may e-mail us your essay whenever it is ready, within the deadline. 

Co-authorship : Only single author submissions will be accepted for the essay competition. A submission cannot have two or more authors. Submissions with more than one author will not be considered.

AI Tools: Usage of AI tools to contribute to the text of the submitted essay is not permitted and will lead to the entry being disqualified.

Selection of Topic : The topic of the essay can be anything related to intellectual property rights – the more creative the better. We encourage participants to take inspiration from Prof. Basheer’s work , which has challenged the orthodoxy of conventional IP wisdom by looking at the subject through the lens of the global south and its development needs. Two values that guided him through the course of his academic writing, were the need for transparency and democratic participation, during the process of making the law and implementation. His commitment to transparency in enforcement of India’s patent law led him to suing the Patent Office on two occasions in order to secure our right to information. He was also playful in his writing, never afraid to think and communicate unconventionally. He brought rigour and substance to his non-conforming ways and we encourage you to bring the same spirit into your entries.

Word Limit: The word limit for submissions is 5,000 words (inclusive of footnotes).

• Please submit the essays in a MS Word format, with 1.5 line spacing. Please do not submit essays in a PDF format.
• We are not prescribing any specific format for footnoting. As long as it is consistent, it should not be a problem.

Deadline and Other Details :

All submissions must be original and unpublished.

If the entry is published elsewhere prior to the announcement of the results of this essay competition, it will not be considered. 

The deadline for submissions is July 14, 2024 (23:59 IST).  

Please e-mail all submissions and queries to submissions[at]spicyip[dot]com (only).

Please submit a covering letter stating:

• the law school where you are enrolled as a student, along with your essay; or if you are a recent graduate, please mention the law school and year of graduation in the covering letter.
• A disclaimer that you have not used AI tools to write any part of your essay. 

Prizes for Winning Essays

Aside from getting published on the blog, the winning essays will receive the following additional prizes:

First prize : INR 25,000

Second prize: INR 15,000

Third prize: INR 10,000

Panel of Judges

The essays will be judged on the basis of the author’s creativity and analytical strength in articulating the arguments. Judges will also take into account entries that demonstrate the values Prof. Basheer displayed in his life and career. This does not mean you have to necessarily agree with everything he wrote. Judges reserve the right not to award the prize if it is considered that no entry is of sufficiently high standard or to divide the prize between two or more entries if they so decide. Judges’ decisions in this respect will be final. The SpicyIP team will shortlist essays to be submitted to an external panel of experts for the final decision.

This brings us to the fantastic panel of judges who have graciously agreed to judge the entries for this edition of the competition. This year the entries will be judged by a panel comprising Prof. (Dr.) Mrinalini Kochupillai, Mr. Murali Neelakantan, and Justice Gautam S. Patel (Retd.). We are grateful to them for sparing their time. Please see their brief profiles below:

Prof. (Dr.) Mrinalini Kochupillai 

Prof. (Dr.) Mrinalini Kochupillai is the founder of SIRN and is a former guest professor and core scientist at the Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation (AI4EO) Future Lab, Technical University of Munich. In a career spanning over 17 years in academia, Prof. Kochupillai has donned many hats including that of a senior research fellow with the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (2014-2018), Program Director (2014-2017) and lecturer at the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center. A graduate from the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, in 2003, Prof. Kochupillai pursued an LL.M. in Intellectual Property, Commerce & Technology from the University of New Hampshire, School of Law in 2006.  She completed her Ph.D. at the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich as a full scholar and fellow of the International Max Planck Research School for Competition and Innovation (2009-13). Prof. Kochupillai’s areas of interest range from business law, patents, plant variety protection, sustainable innovations in agriculture, and business ethics. Prof. Kochupillai’s team is an ERC Starting Grant Winner (2023) for developing a novel system in the ReSeed Project to create a transparent, decentralized and digital marketplace where farmers can share their seeds and valuable know-how with other farmers and researchers around the world.

Prof. Kochupillai has been associated with the blog since its early days, having been a regular blogger with the team in 2007-08 (see here ), and relatively more recently, she and her team partnered with the blog to power an open, public consultation on a position paper on Sustainable Seeds Innovations .

Mr Murali Neelakantan 

Murali Neelakantan is the Principal Lawyer at amicus. He is a dual qualified lawyer (English solicitor and Indian advocate). His current area of research is healthcare policy. He worked with Cipla as global general counsel and with Khaitan & Co as senior partner. In London, he was a partner with Arnold & Porter, and later with Ashurst. Mr Neelakantan has been on the board of directors of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and TTK Prestige Ltd. As an expert on competition and IP, Mr Neelakantan has authored several incisive op-eds, focusing on the healthcare system, including for BloombergQuint, NDTV Profit, The Hindu, The Wire, Indian Express, Moneycontrol, Scroll, etc.

A 1996 graduate of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, Mr Neelakantan is also a co-editor for the book, “An Idea of a Law School- Ideas from The Law School”. His academic research has been published in the NLSIR, NLSBLR, Indian Public Policy Review and The Lancet Regional Health – South East Asia. He has been featured as an expert by numerous Indian and international media including Financial Times, British Medical Journal, as well as on numerous podcasts like the Firm, Shortcast over Coffee, and the Seen and the Unseen.

A long-time friend of Prof Basheer, IDIA and SpicyIP, Mr Neelakantan has regularly provided extremely useful advice and insights for us in many of our previous research endeavours, and has also co-authored a post on the issue of trademark protection on colours of medicines and medical devices. 

Justice Gautam S. Patel 

Justice G. S. Patel (Retd.) is known for being one of the finest IP judges the country has seen, with his orders and judgements being filled not only with judicial rigour, but also with scholarly, witty, and often humorous observations, captivating the minds of lawyers and laypeople alike. Some of the orders showcasing Justice Patel’s signature style include Go Holdings Pvt. Ltd. v. Interglobe Aviation Ltd. , Jagdish Kamath v. Lime and Chilli Hospitality Services , and Balaji Motion Pictures v. BSNL (see here for a list of 10 eloquent decisions by Justice Patel that depicted his creative and hard hitting writing style). 

A graduate of St. Xavier’s College and Government Law College, Justice Patel started practice in 1987 in Mumbai, focusing on commercial, corporate, and civil litigation while also partaking in various environmental and pro bono litigations like those relating to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Melghat National Park. He was a recipient of the First International Fellowship at Pacific Energy & Resources Center, Sausalito, California in environmental law in 1994-1995. Justice Patel was also a part time lecturer at the Government Law, Mumbai, prior to his elevation as a judge of the Bombay High Court in 2013, and taught administrative law, constitutional law, and environmental law. Justice Patel’s penmanship and witty observations extend even beyond his decisions and he has earlier contributed to Economic & Political Weekly, TimeOut Mumbai, the Mumbai Reader, etc. 

Long time readers of the blog will also remember that Justice Patel authored an incisive and thought provoking post on SpicyIP, that incited a discussion on whether the nature of the content of a work has an impact on its protection under copyright. Justice Patel was rated as one of the top 50 IP personalities by Managing IP, in 2014-2015. A testament to his contributions to the Bench, Justice Patel is the first judge to receive a full court reference on his retirement from the Bombay High Court.

Once again, we thank the judges for their time. And we eagerly look forward to your submissions!

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Announcing the winners of the 3rd shamnad basheer essay competition on ip law, announcing the 3rd shamnad basheer essay competition on intellectual property law, nluj-cips inter college ip research essay writing competition 2022 [submit by march 10], announcing the winners of the 2nd shamnad basheer essay competition on ip law, leave a comment cancel reply.

Dear Anon, Thank you for your comment. I agree that the recent Amendments will make things difficult especially for a…

That’s a well-written order indeed. Thanks for bringing this to readers’ attention.

Patent office may tune it's officers in view of recent amendments to prima facie reject the pre-grant on various petty…

Please also cover the decision of the Delhi High Court in Vans Inc. v. Fateh Chand Bhansali decided on 02/05/2024.…

Informative good read!

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Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 4, 2023

Karolina Hird, Grace Mappes, Nicole Wolkov, Angelica Evans, and Frederick W. Kagan

July 4, 2023, 8:35pm ET

Click here to see ISW’s interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This map is updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report.

Click here to access ISW’s archive of interactive time-lapse maps of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These maps complement the static control-of-terrain map that ISW produces daily by showing a dynamic frontline. ISW will update this time-lapse map archive monthly.

Note: The data cutoff for this product was 2pm ET on July 4. ISW will cover subsequent reports in the July 5 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment.

Ukrainian forces appear to be focusing on creating an asymmetrical attrition gradient that conserves Ukrainian manpower at the cost of a slower rate of territorial gains, while gradually wearing down Russian manpower and equipment. Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov reported on July 4 that Ukrainian forces are performing their main task of destroying Russian manpower, equipment, fuel depots, artillery, and air defenses and that a “war of destruction is equal to a war of kilometers.”[1] Danilov’s assessment underlines the prioritization of Ukraine’s ongoing campaign to attrit Russian manpower and assets over attempting to conduct massive sweeping mechanized maneuvers to regain large swaths of territory rapidly. NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Bob Bauer reported on July 3 that Ukrainian forces are correct to proceed cautiously and avoid high casualties in the counteroffensive and acknowledged that the counteroffensive is difficult due to landmines and other obstacles up to 30km deep into Russian-occupied territory.[2] Bauer stated that Ukrainian forces should not face criticism or pressure for moving slowly.

Ukrainian forces have liberated territory in multiple areas of the front since the start of the counteroffensive in early June. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar reported on July 3 that Ukrainian forces have liberated a total of 37.4 square kilometers in eastern and southern Ukraine in the past week.[3] Ukrainian forces are continuing to make steady, gradual advances.

The current pace of Ukrainian operations is not indicative of a stalemate or evidence that Ukraine cannot retake large areas. Ukrainian forces conducted slow and gradual interdiction campaigns against Russian concentration areas in east (left) bank Kherson Oblast and limited ground attacks on the west (right) bank between August and November of 2022, before finally forcing the Russian withdrawal from the right bank in mid-November.[4] The situation in southern Ukraine is different, of course, because there is no natural bottleneck of the sort created by Russian reliance on the two bridges over the Dnipro. The Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kherson nevertheless alternated phases of relatively rapid advance with long periods of preparation, combat focused on attritting Russian forces, and limited gains that ultimately made Russian positions on the west bank of the river untenable.  By contrast, the Russian winter-spring offensive culminated in just over one month without making significant gains along the Luhansk-Kharkiv Oblast border.[5]  The current Ukrainian counter-offensive is less dramatic and rapid than the one that liberated much of Kharkiv Oblast, more successful than the failed Russian winter offensive, and generally most like the slower but ultimately successful Kherson counteroffensive in its pace and initial progress.

Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least four sectors of the front and advanced on July 4. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Russian forces repelled Ukrainian ground attacks in the Lyman direction.[6] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continue counteroffensive operations in the Bakhmut area, in the western Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.[7] Ukrainian military officials stated that Ukrainian forces have made some unspecified advances on Bakhmut’s northern and southern flanks, and a prominent Russian milblogger also claimed that Ukrainian forces advanced north of Bakhmut.[8] Ukrainian Tavrisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Valery Shershen stated that Ukrainian forces advanced up to two kilometers in the western Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and a Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces reached Pryyutne, 15 kilometers southwest of Velyka Novosilka in western Donetsk Oblast.[9] Geolocated footage confirms that Ukrainian forces made additional advances south of Orikhiv in western Zaporizhia Oblast.[10]

Russian and Ukrainian officials escalated their rhetoric surrounding the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on July 4, but Russia is likely focused on accusing Ukraine of irresponsible actions around the ZNPP including setting conditions for a possible false flag attack . Russia remains unlikely to generate a radiological incident at the ZNPP at this time. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on July 4 that Ukrainian officials have begun preparations for a potential Russian provocation at the ZNPP “in the near future” and warned that Russian forces placed objects “resembling explosive devices” on the outer roofs of the ZNPP’s third and fourth reactors in order to blame damage to these areas on Ukrainian shelling.[11] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed this statement in his nightly address on July 4, and other Ukrainian military sources warned of possible Russian provocations at the plant.[12] As ISW has previously reported, it is unlikely that limited Russian sabotage at the ZNPP that Russia could hope to blame on Ukraine would be able to generate a massive radiological incident, as the ZNPP’s reactors were constructed to withstand considerable damage.[13] Ukrainian military sources reiterated this assessment and noted that even if the purported explosive devices detonate, the damage would not harm the reactor but would rather create the false impression that Ukrainian forces had shelled the reactors.[14] Advisor to the head of Russian nuclear energy operator Rosenergoatom, Renat Karchaa, also claimed on July 4 that Ukraine is planning to strike the ZNPP overnight on July 4-5.[15] ISW has previously assessed that such provocative Russian statements, and even the possibility of a tangible provocation at the plant, are likely part of a Russian wider information operation meant to accuse Ukraine of irresponsibility at the ZNPP ahead of the upcoming NATO summit and dissuade Ukrainian forces from conducting counteroffensive operations against occupied Zaporizhia Oblast.[16]

The reported reorganization of Russian internal security organs suggests that the Kremlin has not yet concluded that it has effectively neutralized the threats of future armed rebellions following the Wagner Group’s June 23-24 rebellion. Russian outlet Vedomosti reported on July 3, citing internal law enforcement sources, that Russian law enforcement authorities are considering reassigning the “Grom” special units of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service (part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) to Rosgvardia (Russian National Guard).[17] Vedomosti noted that this reported change follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with heads of various Russian law enforcement agencies on June 26 in the wake of the Wagner armed rebellion.[18] Several Russian sources spoke out against the reported transfer of ”Grom” to Rosgvardia, citing overall poorer equipment, training, and leadership quality.[19] Vedomosti claimed that Alexander Khinstein, former advisor to Rosgvardia Head Viktor Zolotov, warned that the assignment of ”Grom” units to Rosgvardia would be a ”dangerous experiment.”[20] The alleged restructuring of Russia’s internal security forces suggests that the Kremlin is working to build an effective anti-rebellion force following Wagner’s armed rebellion. The fact that these purported changes are happening following the rebellion indicates that the Kremlin was correctly dissatisfied with the performance of security forces, which failed to stop or even contest Wagner’s march on Moscow, and suggests that the Kremlin has not ruled out the risk of future such rebellions.

Russian authorities are absolving Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin of financial responsibility for damages caused by the Wagner Group rebellion and reportedly returned significant liquid assets to Prigozhin, possibly as part of the deal negotiated between Putin, Prigozhin, and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. The Rostov-on-Don administration claimed that the total damages from Prigozhin’s rebellion amounted to 92.5 million rubles (roughly $1 million), and that the administration will not recover damages from Prigozhin or the Wagner Group.[21] St. Petersburg news outlet Fontanka claimed, citing internal sources, that Russian authorities returned over 10 billion rubles (roughly $111 million) in cash, five gold bars, and hundreds of thousands of US dollars in cash to Prigozhin on July 2 that authorities had seized from Prigozhin-affiliated facilities in St. Petersburg on June 24.[22] Fontanka claimed that authorities only reversed their decision to hold onto Prigozhin‘s liquid assets on July 2 but did not specify a reason for the reversal. The legal basis that Russian authorities would have had for seizing Prigozhin’s assets remains unclear in any case, as Russian authorities dropped criminal charges against Prigozhin for the rebellion.[23] A prominent Russian milblogger claimed that part of Prigozhin’s liquid assets were supposed to be compensation to the families of Russian pilots whom Wagner forces killed during the rebellion, but it is now uncertain whether Wagner will make those payments.[24] The milblogger assessed that Wagner will likely use at least part of the returned assets to support transferring Wagner Group personnel to Belarus.

The official Chechen response to an attack against a Russian opposition journalist in Chechnya may impact Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov’s standing in the Russian ultranationalist information space. Russian opposition outlet Novaya Gazeta reported on July 4 that unspecified, masked actors in Grozny, Chechnya intercepted a car containing one of its journalists, Yelena Milashina, severely assaulted Milashina, destroyed her equipment and documents, and warned Milashina against writing “anything.”[25] Milashina traveled to Chechnya in order to cover the trial of Zarema Musayeva, the mother of an exiled Chechen opposition activist, and the attackers also assaulted Musayeva’s lawyer, Alexander Nemov, who was in the car with Milashina. Chechen courts sentenced Musayeva to five and a half years in prison on July 5 for alleged fraud and attacking Chechen authorities, but some Russian opposition voices claimed that Chechen authorities prosecuted Musayeva due to her son‘s activism.[26] Prominent Russian ultranationalist voices seized on Milashina’s attack despite its lack of relevance to the war in Ukraine likely out of concern for broader press censorship.[27] The voices condemned attacks against journalists – including Milashina – as unacceptable even though they disagree with Milashina.[28] The Russian Union of Journalists and the Russian Human Rights Council both issued statements of condemnation and opened investigations into the attack.[29]

Kadyrov’s prominence in the broader Russian information space will likely force Kadyrov to choose between preserving his regime and his support in the ultranationalist information space, however. Kadyrov’s response was a brief acknowledgment that the relevant Chechen authorities are investigating the ”incident” - a response inconsistent in tone and content with Kadyrov’s usual flamboyant, long-winded messaging.[30] Kadyrov previously condemned Milashina as a ”terrorist” and demanded her detention, which is largely consistent with his overall effort to retain his authoritarian rule in Chechnya.[31] If Kadyrov supports the investigation into Milashina’s attack, he risks undermining his domestic regime and crackdowns against Chechen opposition voices. But if Kadyrov refuses to support the investigation, then he risks undermining his standing within an information space that is hypersensitive to the prospect of increased censorship. Kadyrov already struggles to balance these dual aims in his force arrayment in Ukraine; Kadyrov portrays Akhmat forces as capable fighters against Ukraine but has simultaneously largely avoided committing them intensive and attritional combat, and some Russian milbloggers have complained that Chechen forces are distracted posing online while other Russian forces actually fight.[32]  Chechen forces notably failed to engage Prigozhin’s rebels despite ostentatiously mobilizing and moving ostensibly to fight them, although Putin might have directed Kadyrov to avoid combat with Wagner forces.[33]

Russia is reportedly forming a new combined arms army as part of the Northern Fleet, likely in order to posture its preparedness against NATO. Russian news outlet Izvestia reported that Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) sources claimed that the existing 14th Army Corps of the Northern Fleet will be reformed into the new combined arms army with motorized rifle brigades, divisions, and regiments subordinate to it.[34] Izvestia suggested that the 14th Army Corps‘ 200th and 80th Brigades will be reorganized into a division under the new combined arms army.[35] Russian army corps before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine existed only within fleets and largely performed the same functions as combined arms armies. The reported decision to form a new combined arms army is thus likely posturing ahead of the NATO summit on July 11-12 intended to show Russia’s military response to the accession of Finland and possibly Sweden to the alliance. The promotion of the 14th Army Corps to a combined arms army level will not by itself increase Russian combat capacity, and it is unclear where the Russian military leadership could find the personnel and equipment that would be needed for the new organization to generate a material difference.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted a drone attack on Moscow Oblast and Novaya Moskva on July 4. The Russian MoD claimed that Russian air defenses shot down and electronic warfare suppressed five of five Ukrainian drones.[36] Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian air defenses destroyed two drones near Valuevo, electronic warfare suppressed one in the Odinstovo Raion, one drone fell near Krivosheino, and one flew toward a military unit in Kubinka - likely the Russian airbase there.[37] One Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces may have intended to strike Vnukovo Airport, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that Russian authorities temporarily redirected some flights from Vnukovo Airport in response to the drones.[38] Another milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces may have conducted the drone attack in retaliation for an alleged Russian strike on a Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) building in Sumy Oblast.[39]

Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian forces appear to be focusing on creating an asymmetrical attrition gradient that conserves Ukrainian manpower at the cost of a slower rate of territorial gains, while gradually wearing down Russian manpower and equipment. The current pace of Ukrainian operations is not indicative of a stalemate or evidence that Ukraine cannot retake large areas.
• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least four sectors of the front and advanced on July 4.
• Russian and Ukrainian officials escalated their rhetoric surrounding the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on July 5, but Russia is likely focused on accusing Ukraine of irresponsible actions around the ZNPP including setting conditions for a possible false flag attack. Russia remains unlikely to generate a radiological incident at the ZNPP at this time.
• The reported reorganization of Russian internal security organs suggests that the Kremlin has not yet concluded that it has effectively neutralized the threats of future armed rebellions following the Wagner Group’s June 23-24 rebellion.
• Russian authorities are absolving Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin of financial responsibility for damages caused by the Wagner Group rebellion and reportedly returned significant liquid assets to Prigozhin, possibly as part of the deal negotiated between Putin, Prigozhin, and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
• The official Chechen response to an attack against a Russian opposition journalist in Chechnya may impact Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov’s standing in the Russian ultranationalist information space.
• Kadyrov’s prominence in the broader Russian information space will likely force Kadyrov to choose between preserving his regime and his support in the ultranationalist information space, however.
• Russia is reportedly forming a new combined arms army as part of the Northern Fleet, likely in order to posture its preparedness against NATO.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted a drone attack on Moscow Oblast and Novaya Moskva on July 4.
• Russian conducted limited ground attacks along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line and south of Kreminna.
• Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted limited ground attacks along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line.
• Russian and Ukrainian forces escalated ground attacks in the Bakhmut area.
• Russian forces continued ground attacks along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line on July 4.
• Russian and Ukrainian forces conducted ground attacks in western Donetsk Oblast.
• Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations near Orikhiv in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
• Russia continues efforts to mobilize its defense industrial base (DIB).

We do not report in detail on Russian war crimes because these activities are well-covered in Western media and do not directly affect the military operations we are assessing and forecasting. We will continue to evaluate and report on the effects of these criminal activities on the Ukrainian military and the Ukrainian population and specifically on combat in Ukrainian urban areas. We utterly condemn these Russian violations of the laws of armed conflict, Geneva Conventions, and humanity even though we do not describe them in these reports. 

• Russian Main Effort – Eastern Ukraine (comprised of two subordinate main efforts)
• Russian Subordinate Main Effort #1 – Capture the remainder of Luhansk Oblast and push westward into eastern Kharkiv Oblast and encircle northern Donetsk Oblast
• Russian Subordinate Main Effort #2 – Capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast
• Russian Supporting Effort – Southern Axis
• Russian Mobilization and Force Generation Efforts
• Activities in Russian-occupied areas

Russian Main Effort – Eastern Ukraine

Russian Subordinate Main Effort #1 – Luhansk Oblast (Russian objective: Capture the remainder of Luhansk Oblast and push westward into eastern Kharkiv Oblast and northern Donetsk Oblast) 

The Ukrainian General Staff reported on July 4 that Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups made unsuccessful attempts to cross the northern international border between Ukraine and Russia in unspecified areas in the Siversk and Slobozhansk directions.[40]

Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line and south of Kreminna on July 4. Geolocated footage published on July 4 shows that Russian forces made limited advances east of Nevske (18km northwest of Kreminna).[41]  The Ukrainian General Staff reported that  Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations near Novoselivske (15km northwest of Svatove), Novovodyane (16km southwest of Svatove), Dibrova (7km southwest of Kreminna), the Serebrianske forest area (10km south of Kreminna), and Vesele (30km south of Kreminna).[42] A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian and Ukrainian forces attempted to advance in the Svatove direction and that Russian forces conducted attacks near Kuzemivka (14km northwest of Svatove).[43] Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty reported on June 3 that Russian forces have about 180,000 troops in the area of responsibility of the Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces, 120,000 of which are operating in the Kupyansk-Lyman direction, including Airborne (VDV) forces, mechanized units, BARS (Russian Combat Reserve) units, Territorial Defense units, and Storm-Z assault units.[44] Footage published on July 4 purportedly shows the 123rd Motorized Rifle Brigade (2nd Luhansk People’s Republic Army Corps) operating near Spirne (25km south of Kreminna).[45]

Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted limited ground attacks along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on July 4. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Russian forces repelled a Ukrainian attack near Novoselivske, Novovodyane, and Yampolivka (16km west of Kreminna).[46] Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted unsuccessful ground attacks from Torske (16km west of Kreminna) and that artillery and UAV units of the Russian 120th Guards Artillery Brigade (41st Combined Arms Army, Central Military District) repelled Ukrainian attacks near Dibrova.[47] 

Russian Subordinate Main Effort #2 – Donetsk Oblast (Russian Objective: Capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, the claimed territory of Russia’s proxies in Donbas)

Russian and Ukrainian forces escalated ground attacks in the Bakhmut area on July 4. Ukranian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar reported that the situation in Bakhmut has escalated, and that Russian and Ukrainian forces are dueling for the initiative and control of terrain.[48] Malyar also stated that Ukrainian forces are advancing on the southern flank of Klishchiivka (7km southwest of Bakhmut) and that fighting continues on Klishchiivka’s northern flank.[49] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces repelled nine Russian attacks near Hryhorivka (8km northwest of Bakhmut), Bohdanivka (5km northwest of Bakhmut), Ivanivske (6km west of Bakhmut), west of Yahidne (2km north of Bakhmut), and southeast of Bila Hora (15km southwest of Bakhmut).[50] The Ukrainian General Staff also reported that Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations north and south of Bakhmut, entrenching themselves in new positions.[51] Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces advanced near Dubovo-Vasylivka (6km northwest of Bakhmut).[52] A Russian milblogger also claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations near Klishchiivka, Ozarianivka (16km southwest of Bakhmut), and Kurdiumivka (12km southwest of Bakhmut).[53] The milblogger claimed that Russian forces held their positions and counterattacked from Berkhivka (6km north of Bakhmut) and along the M-03 highway in the direction of Minkivka (13km northwest of Bakhmut).[54] The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that units of the Russian Southern Group of Forces repelled 10 Ukrainian attacks near Orikhovo-Vasylivka (11km northwest of Bakhmut), Yahidne, and Klishchivka.[55]

Pervasive issues with Russian combat capabilities likely continue to affect the ability of Russian forces to defend against Ukrainian counterattacks in the Bakhmut area. Former Russian officer and prominent critical milblogger Igor Girkin claimed that Ukrainian forces are advancing north of Bakhmut where understaffed units of the Russian 3rd Army Corps (Western Military District) have been deployed.[56] ISW previously reported the formation and failure of the 3rd Army Corps, a new formation created in 2022 that was decimated during its first deployment to Kharkiv Oblast in September 2022 and again in its subsequent deployments to the Bakhmut area.[57] ISW previously assessed that issues with the ad hoc commitment of various depleted force groupings to the Bakhmut axis, alongside apparent command and control failures, were likely preventing Russian forces in the area from conducting sound defensive operations and would likely offer Ukrainian forces opportunities to exploit with limited counterattacks.[58]

Russian forces continued ground attacks along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line on July 4. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces defended against Russian offensive operations near Avdiivka and repelled 15 Russian ground attacks near Marinka (on the southwestern outskirts of Donetsk City).[59] A Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations in the Avdiivka direction.[60] Another milblogger claimed that Russian forces carried out unsuccessful offensive operations in Marinka and on the southwestern approach to Avdiivka.[61]

Russian Supporting Effort – Southern Axis (Russian objective: Maintain frontline positions and secure rear areas against Ukrainian strikes)

Russian and Ukrainian forces conducted ground attacks in western Donetsk Oblast on July 4. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations near Rivnopil, 10km southwest of Velyka Novosilka along the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast border.[62] The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Russian forces repelled Ukrainian attacks in the Vuhledar area east of Velyka Novosilka and south of Velyka Novosilka near Urozhaine.[63] A Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces reached the borders of Pryyutne, 15km southwest of Velyka Novosilka in eastern Zaporizhia Oblast.[64] Ukrainian Tavrisk Direction Spokesperson Valeriy Shershen noted on July 4 that Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 2km into Russian defenses in an unspecified area of the Berdyansk (western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia oblasts) direction.[65]

Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations near Orikhiv in western Zaporizhia Oblast on July 4. Geolocated footage posted on July 4 shows elements of the 810 th Naval Infantry Brigade (Black Sea Fleet) and 58th Combined Arms Army (Southern Military District) shelling Ukrainian positions south of Orikhiv, indicating that Ukrainian forces have advanced to within 2km north of Robotyne.[66] Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces continued attacks towards Robotyne but that elements of the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment (42nd Motorized Rifle Division, 58th Combined Arms Army, Southern Military District) repelled Ukrainian attacks west of Robotyne.[67] Russian milbloggers additionally claimed that several small Ukrainian assault groups launched an attack southwest of Orikhiv towards the Pyatykhatyky-Zherebryanky line (about 25km southwest of Orikhiv) and reported that elements of the Crimea and Sudoplatov volunteer battalions and the 429th Motorized Rifle Regiment (19th Motorized Rifle Division, 58th Combined Arms Army, Southern Military District) are defending in this area.[68]

Ukrainian forces conducted a strike in the Russian rear of occupied Zaporizhia Oblast on July 4. Geolocated footage posted on July 4 shows the aftermath of a reported Ukrainian Storm Shadow missile strike on an unspecified Russian warehouse facility in Yakymivka, about 23km southwest of Melitopol along the T2209 Melitopol-Chonhar highway.[69] Russian sources additionally claimed that Ukrainian forces struck Vasylivka (35km north of Melitopol along the E105 highway).[70]

Russian sources continued to claim that Ukrainian forces are active near the Antonivsky Bridge on the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast despite the Russian MoD’s efforts to claim that Russian forces have full control of this area.[71] One Russian milblogger claimed that there are heavy battles ongoing near the Antonivsky Bridge, and another warned that Ukrainian troops are regrouping and replenishing units to prepare for further attacks across the Dnipro River.[72] The Russian MoD claimed on July 1 that Russian troops fully restored their positions along the eastern shoreline of the Dnipro River, but milbloggers have continued to warn that Ukrainian forces maintain a presence on the east bank and are preparing for additional attacks.[73] Ukrainian Southern Operational Command Spokesperson Nataliya Humenyuk also noted that Russian forces near the Dnipro River are trying to retake positions previously flooded by the explosion of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (KHPP) dam.[74]

An influx of Russian tourists to Crimea is generating serious traffic jams along one of Russia’s most important ground lines of communication, prompting Putin and other senior Russian officials to direct state resources to help tourists move closer to a zone of active hostilities. Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Saveliev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 4 to report on the situation at the entrance to the Kerch Strait Bridge and to ask for increased ferry crossings to reduce traffic jams.[75] Putin called for maximizing the use of ferries to ”normalize” the transport situation across the Kerch Strait and indicated that the Russian MoD should also lend transport assets to the area.[76] A Russian milblogger claimed that the traffic at the entrance of the Kerch Strait Bridge in Krasnodar Krai has increased by 40% since July 1 and is expected to increase further in the coming days as the summer tourist season is in full swing.[77] Another Russian milblogger called on the Black Sea Fleet to provide two large landing ships for the crossing of civilian vehicles to solve traffic issues and emphasized that Russian authorities have seriously underestimated the desire of Russians to continue vacationing in occupied Crimea despite ongoing hostilities.[78] Russian authorities are dealing with pervasive civilian and transport issues to Crimea partially because of their continued refusal to fully mobilize Russian society onto a wartime footing, resulting in the continued promotion of tourism to occupied Crimea despite the fact it is a legitimate rear-area target for continued Ukrainian strikes.

Russian Mobilization and Force Generation Efforts (Russian objective: Expand combat power without conducting general mobilization)

Russia continues efforts to mobilize its defense industrial base (DIB). Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, and unspecified other military leaders and DIB representatives discussed the implementation of the Russian state defense order to increase DIB production, but the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) did not provide details on the topics discussed or agreed plans.[79] Yelabuga, Tatarstan regional entity “Alabuga Start” advertised a program for women aged 16 to 22 to develop careers building drones.[80] The program claims to offer benefits including a 52,000 ruble ($577) monthly salary, training, housing, relocation aid, and opportunities for further education. ISW has previously reported that a Russo-Iranian contract is providing for the manufacture of Shahed drones in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ).[81]

Russian officials continue to posture Russia as able to generate enough manpower to maintain the war effort in Ukraine. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev claimed that Russian forces have recruited over 185,000 contract and conscripted personnel since January 1, 2023, 109,000 of whom are in reserve.[82] Medvedev claimed that Russian forces recruited 1,400 people per day for contract service in June 2023.

Russia continues efforts to expand international military cooperation. Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Nikolai Yevmenov and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu met in Beijing on July 3 and discussed ongoing mutual cooperation and organizing joint military exercises.[83] Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Alexander Fomin met with Kuwaiti Army Assistant Chief of Staff Brigadier General Fawaz Al-Harbi in Moscow on July 4 and confirmed Russian and Kuwaiti intent to further defense cooperation.[84]

Activities in Russian-occupied areas (Russian objective: Consolidate administrative control of annexed areas; forcibly integrate Ukrainian civilians into Russian sociocultural, economic, military, and governance systems) 

Russian officials continue to deport Ukrainian children to Russia under the guise of providing pediatric healthcare. Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova claimed on July 4 that Russian authorities sent 23 disabled children from occupied Donetsk Oblast to a rehabilitation center in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast and 12 children to a rehabilitation center in Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast.[85] Lvova-Belova claimed that Russian authorities plan to send about 370 more children in at least four more trips to rehabilitation centers by the end of 2023.[86] Lvova-Belova did not specify if the children have returned or will return to occupied Donetsk Oblast. ISW has previously reported on Russian authorities using access to pediatric healthcare as a guise to deport children in occupied Ukraine to Russia.[87]

Significant activity in Belarus (Russian efforts to increase its military presence in Belarus and further integrate Belarus into Russian-favorable frameworks).

ISW will continue to report daily observed Russian and Belarusian military activity in Belarus, as part of ongoing Kremlin efforts to increase their control over Belarus and other Russian actions in Belarus.

Nothing significant to report.

Note: ISW does not receive any classified material from any source, uses only publicly available information, and draws extensively on Russian, Ukrainian, and Western reporting and social media as well as commercially available satellite imagery and other geospatial data as the basis for these reports. References to all sources used are provided in the endnotes of each update.

[1] https://twitter.com/OleksiyDanilov/status/1676116133819170817

[2] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-right-be-cautious-with-counter-offensive-top-nato-official-says-2023-07-03/

[3] https://t.me/annamaliar/899

[4] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-30 ; https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-13

[5] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-15-2023 ; https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-february-8-2023

[6] https://t.me/mod_russia/28072

[7] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02A52T2ugTVhiavau9ev...

[8] https://armyinform.com dot ua/2023/07/04/syly-oborony-prodovzhuyut-vesty-nastupalni-operacziyi-na-bahmutskomu-melitopolskomu-i-berdyanskomu-napryamkah/; https://t.me/strelkovii/5874 ; https://t.me/annamaliar/903

[9] https://suspilne dot media/521387-na-berdanskomu-napramku-zaporizkoi-oblasti-vijskovi-zsu-prosunulisa-do-dvoh-kilometriv-vpered/;  https://www.facebook.com/PresscentrTavria/videos/932914671129838/

[10] https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1676197514641387521; https://t.me/wargonzo/13655

[11] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02ABo9LEqPDXC5mk6WF1Y8DnZ7p1DBLvQt2gWt1TwufuY7FfCaM7yYvYP6eBhn7uYHl  

[12] https://www.president.gov dot ua/en/news/svit-bachit-sho-yedinim-dzherelom-nebezpeki-dlya-zaporizkoyi-84065; https://t.me/AFUStratCom/18805 ; https://t.me/spravdi/31142

[13] https://isw.pub/UkrWar112122 ; https://isw.pub/UkrWar070123 ; https://isw.pub/UkrWar062223

[14] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-ukraine-accuse-each-other-pl...

[15] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-ukraine-accuse-each-other-pl...

[16] https://isw.pub/RusCampaignSept22 ;

[17] https://www.vedomosti dot ru/politics/articles/2023/07/04/983567-vedomstva-prorabativayut-vopros-o-perepodchinenii-politseiskogo-spetsnaza-rosgvardii

[18] https://www.vedomosti dot ru/politics/articles/2023/07/04/983567-vedomstva-prorabativayut-vopros-o-perepodchinenii-politseiskogo-spetsnaza-rosgvardii; http://kremlin dot ru/events/president/news/71530; https://t.me/mod_russia/27870    

[19] https://t.me/dva_majors/20216; https://t.me/dva_majors/20220 ; https://t.me/notes_veterans/10678 ; https://t.me/rosich_ru/44861

[20] https://www.vedomosti dot ru/politics/articles/2023/07/04/983567-vedomstva-prorabativayut-vopros-o-perepodchinenii-politseiskogo-spetsnaza-rosgvardii

[21] https://www.kavkazr dot com/a/administratsiya-rostova-ne-budet-trebovatj-vozmescheniya-uscherba-ot-prigozhina-posle-myatezha-v-gorode/32488862.html; https://meduza dot io/news/2023/07/03/vlasti-rostova-na-donu-otsenili-pochti-v-sto-millionov-rubley-uscherb-gorodu-ot-myatezha-chvk-vagnera; https://rtvi dot com/news/glava-rostova-na-donu-rasskazal-o-summe-ushherba-ot-myatezha-chvk-vagner/

[22] https://www.fontanka dot ru/2023/07/04/72460373/

[23] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign...

[24] https://t.me/boris_rozhin/91216

[25] https://t.me/novaya_pishet/41030 ; https://meduza dot io/news/2023/07/04/v-chechne-napali-na-zhurnalistku-novoy-gazety-elenu-milashinu-i-advokata-aleksandra-nemova-ih-zhestko-izbili-zhurnalistke-slomali-paltsy

[26] https://www.themoscowtimes dot com/2023/07/04/chechen-court-sentences-mother-of-prominent-activist-to-55-years-in-prison-a81728

[27] https://tass dot ru/obschestvo/18182187; https://t.me/sashakots/40758; https://t.me/MedvedevVesti/14692

[28] https://tass dot ru/obschestvo/18182187; https://t.me/sashakots/40758 ; https://t.me/MedvedevVesti/14692

[29] https://tass dot ru/obschestvo/18182187

[30] https://t.me/RKadyrov_95/3743;

[31] https://meduza dot io/news/2022/02/03/obozrevatel-novoy-gazety-elena-milashina-uedet-iz-rossii-posle-ugroz-kadyrova; https://meduza dot io/news/2023/07/04/razberemsya-ramzan-kadyrov-o-napadenii-na-elenu-milashinu-i-aleksandra-nemova; https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-december-10 ; https://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Russian%20Offensive%20Campaign%20Assessment%20April%2016.pdf

[32] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-5-2023 ; https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-may-31-2023 ; https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-2-2023 ; https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-24-2023

[33] https://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Russian%20Offensive%20Campaign%20Assessment%2C%20May%2031%2C%202023%20PDF.pdf ; https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign...

[34] https://iz dot ru/1538203/roman-kretcul-aleksei-ramm/poliarnyi-okrug-v-sostave-severnogo-flota-sozdadut-obshchevoiskovuiu-armiiu

[35] https://iz dot ru/1538203/roman-kretcul-aleksei-ramm/poliarnyi-okrug-v-sostave-severnogo-flota-sozdadut-obshchevoiskovuiu-armiiu

[36] https://t.me/mod_russia/28057 ; https://t.me/mod_russia/28057; https://t.me/severrealii/18203 ; https://t.me/shot_shot/53667 ; https://t.me/shot_shot/53668 ; https://t.me/svobodnieslova/2376 ; https://t.me/bazabazon/19166 ; https://t.me/sotaproject/62267; https://t.me/vrogov/10743; https://t.me/istories_media/2957; https://t.me/astrapress/31717; https://t.me/astrapress/31721; https://t.me/astrapress/31723; https://t.me/astrapress/31724 ; https://t.me/voenkorKotenok/48938 ; https://t.me/milinfolive/103099 ; https://t.me/milinfolive/103100 ; https://t.me/milinfolive/103102 ; https://t.me/milinfolive/103107

[37] https://t.me/rybar/49303; https://t.me/RVvoenkor/48650; https://t.me/russkiy_opolchenec/37131 ; https://gfsis.org.ge/maps/russian-military-forces

[38] https://t.me/rybar/49303; https://t.me/mos_sobyanin/5854

[39] https://t.me/milinfolive/103104

[40] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02A52T2ugTVhiavau9ev...

[41] https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1676238337202331648?s=20

[42] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02A52T2ugTVhiavau9ev...

[43] https://t.me/boris_rozhin/91146

[44] https://armyinform.com dot ua/2023/07/03/vorog-namagayetsya-nastupaty-na-lymano-kupyanskomu-napryamku-sergij-cherevatyj/

[45] https://t.me/sons_fatherland/10707

[46] https://t.me/mod_russia/28072

[47] https://t.me/wargonzo/13644 ; https://t.me/rybar/49287; https://t.me/kremlinprachka/24720

[48] https://t.me/annamaliar/903

[49] https://t.me/annamaliar/903

[50] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02pkdwwHKJ5eZcJc9FQ6u2pJAfj4vkxsmmVQTVdqqNbJFGN4KTPEKy7wywg3ATtH9ol

[51] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02A52T2ugTVhiavau9evCzYCUKw7ZJdEccNPotT5BoeWZaKcopvwQGEWDWtirJjwTfl

[52] https://t.me/grey_zone/19409 ; https://t.me/strelkovii/5874  

[53] https://t.me/wargonzo/13644  

[54] https://t.me/wargonzo/13644  

[55] https://t.me/mod_russia/28072

[56] https://t.me/strelkovii/5874 

[57] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign... ; https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-ass...

[58] https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-may-10-2023

[59] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02A52T2ugTVhiavau9evCzYCUKw7ZJdEccNPotT5BoeWZaKcopvwQGEWDWtirJjwTfl  ; https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02pkdwwHKJ5eZcJc9FQ6u2pJAfj4vkxsmmVQTVdqqNbJFGN4KTPEKy7wywg3ATtH9ol ; https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02A52T2ugTVhiavau9evCzYCUKw7ZJdEccNPotT5BoeWZaKcopvwQGEWDWtirJjwTfl   

[60] https://t.me/boris_rozhin/91146

[61] https://t.me/wargonzo/13644

[62] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02pkdwwHKJ5eZcJc9FQ6u2pJAfj4vkxsmmVQTVdqqNbJFGN4KTPEKy7wywg3ATtH9ol

[63] https://t.me/mod_russia/28072; https://t.me/mod_russia/28066

[64] https://t.me/wargonzo/13644

[65] https://suspilne dot media/521387-na-berdanskomu-napramku-zaporizkoi-oblasti-vijskovi-zsu-prosunulisa-do-dvoh-kilometriv-vpered/ ;  https://www.facebook.com/PresscentrTavria/videos/932914671129838/

[66] https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1676197514641387521 ; https://t.me/wargonzo/13655

[67] https://t.me/RVvoenkor/48680 ; https://t.me/berloga_life/13918; https://t.me/RVvoenkor/48664  

[68] https://t.me/rybar/49306; https://t.me/batalyon15/2205; https://t.me/batalyon15/2202; https://t.me/batalyon15/2200; https://t.me/negumanitarnaya_pomosch_Z/8536; https://t.me/voin_dv/3520; https://t.me/rusich_army/9742; https://t.me/rusich_army/9741; https://t.me/rusich_army/9739; https://t.me/RVvoenkor/48667  

[69] https://t.me/vrogov/10736 ; https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1676220226902294528?s=20; https://t.me/rybar/49304

[70] https://t.me/vrogov/10733 ; https://t.me/vrogov/10734; https://t.me/rybar/49304

[71] https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-ass...

[72] https://t.me/boris_rozhin/91146; https://t.me/readovkanews/61932; https://t.me/dva_majors/20233 ; https://t.me/dva_majors/20234 ; https://t.me/dva_majors/20196 ; https://t.me/russkiy_opolchenec/37139   

[73] https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-1-2023 ; https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-2-2023 ; https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-ass...

[74] https://suspilne dot media/521107-v-lavah-armii-rf-pevna-panika-tomu-voni-tak-golosno-kricat-pro-antonivskij-mist-gumenuk-pro-situaciu-na-hersonsini/

[75] https://tass dot ru/obschestvo/18188277

[76] https://tass dot ru/obschestvo/18188277

[77] https://t.me/southtower/8821  

[78] https://t.me/boris_rozhin/91215

[79] https://t.me/mod_russia/28067 

[80] https://t.me/rusich_army/9749; https://t.me/AlabugaService/57

[81] https://isw.pub/UkrWar070323

[82] https://tass dot ru/armiya-i-opk/18189843 ; https://ria dot ru/20230704/kontraktniki-1882224486.html

[83] http://www.mod.gov dot cn/gfbw/qwfb/16234721.html; https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-03/china-says-it-wants-m...

[84] https://t.me/mod_russia/28080

[85] https://t.me/malvovabelova/1675

[86] https://t.me/malvovabelova/1675

[87] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-may-30-2023 ; https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-11-2023