2016 Hogan/Smoger Access to Justice Essay Competition

The Hogan/Smoger Access to Justice Essay Competition is administered by Public Citizen. The contest is open to all current law students and all masters of law students. Essay submissions are sought on the topic “Class Actions and Environmental Law.” The winner will receive $5,000 and a complementary one-year Public Citizen membership. Only one winning paper will be chosen and awarded the prizes.

Public Citizen is a nonprofit organization that does not participate in partisan political activities or endorse any candidates for elected office. Public Citizen serves as the people’s voice in the nation’s capital.

Eligibility:

The competition is open to all current law students and all masters of law students.
Co-authored submissions are eligible, if selected, the co-authors will share the prize.

How to Apply:

To be considered for scholarship contest, the candidates must submit an essay on the following topic:

As courts and legislators have made it more difficult to bring effective class actions, can class actions continue to advance environmental objectives and hold polluters accountable?

Essay Guidelines:

Submissions must be emailed as Microsoft Word documents. It may be full-length law review articles or shorter academic essays.
The word count may be between 6,000 and 25,000 words, not including footnotes. Essays should use footnotes (not endnotes).

Submitting Details:

Each submission must be an original, unpublished academic work, but simultaneous submissions will be accepted.
If a submission has been accepted for publication, the student should include the journal’s written consent to the posting of the paper on Public Citizen’s website, which will feature appropriate attribution.
Submissions must be emailed to Amanda Fleming atafleming-at-citizen.org. Papers emailed after this date will not be considered.

Award Amount:

The winners will receive: