PLF Writing Competition

One of my biggest regrets in law school is that I did not (despite being told I could probably win) enter the Pacific Legal Foundation's Judicial Awareness Writing Competition.  I was too busy.  Blah, blah, blah.  If you are a law student, you should enter.

First, it's an excellent way for you to make some extra money.  Second, even if you lose, you will end up with an excellent writing sample.  Any employer worth working for will expect you to provide him or her with a writing sample.  By writing on one of PLF's topics, you will demonstrate an ability to analyze difficult legal questions.  Third, if you have a law professor help advise you as you write your paper (and you should), you will likely develop a lasting friendship.  By the way, if you leave law school without having made friends with at least three law professors, you failed.

I can't see a downside to your entering the contest. Here are some details:

Pacific Legal Foundation is awarding $9,500 in its Sixth Annual Program for Judicial Awareness Writing Competition.  This year's competition includes three essay questions, regarding the applicability of the Supreme Court's "rough proportionality" takings standard; whether the GDF Realty Investments v. Norton decision can be reconciled with the Court's modern Commerce Clause jurisprudence; and whether the concept of "regulatory givings" is consisten with the purpose and function of the Takings Clause.

  More information is available here. 

Comments

[David Giacalone]

Mike, if I were a prospective employer, I would not want a "writing sample" that has been vetted by, or filtered through, a professor -- at the very least, I'd want to be told just how much supervision-assistance-editing had been done, and I might want to see the very first draft.

Your suggestion of making friends of law professors seems impractical at many law schools. I'm almost certain professors reading this post will be muttering "thanks a lot, Michael!"