Access to Justice Writing Competition

Hogan/Smoger Access to Justice Essay Contest offers law students of any nationality an opportunity to receive reward and recognition for expounding on whether and how the courts can be used to obtain justice.

2011 Essay Topic
The topic for the 2011 Essay Writing contest is "The Gulf Oil Spill: Who Are the Victims and How Do They Get Compensated?"

Essay Prize
The author of the winning essay will receive:
* a $5,000 cash prize
* recognition in the Public Justice newsletter and on the website
* publication of the essay in the Vermont Law School's online Journal of Environmental Law
* and a free Public Justice Foundation membership for the Contest Year.

Any student including international students, currently enrolled in an accredited American law school may submit a legal essay for the competition. Each entry must be submitted through a faculty adviser. All entrants must submit an Intent To Enter Form (PDF) by January 31, 2011.

Essay Submission Deadline
The deadline for the essay is March 31, 2011.
A panel of nationally renowned trial lawyers and law professors will judge the entries.

For more details about the essay writing contest, contact;
Cassandra Goings
Tel: (202) 797-8600, Ext. 244
Email: cgoings@publicjustice.net.

Download the Contest Rules and Eligibility Criteria

About the Hogan/Smoger Access TO Justice Essay Contest
For 40 years, the competition was known as the Roscoe Hogan Environmental Law Essay Contest, providing law students an opportunity to investigate and offer solutions to the multitude of injustices inflicted on the environment. The contest was established in 1970 by the late Roscoe B. Hogan of Birmingham, Alabama, a prominent environmental lawyer. With additional support from noted attorney Gerson Smoger, the contest was renamed and expanded beginning with the 2011 competition.