American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Law Student Writing Contest
The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel is an IRC Section 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to elevating the standards and advancing the public’s understanding of the practice of employee benefits law. In pursuit of this goal, the College encourages the study and development of employee benefits laws, initiates professional discussions of significant employee benefits issues and sponsors an extensive list of Continuing Legal Education programs.
Fellows of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel are selected by the Board of Governors from among employee benefits attorneys nominated for that honor and recommended for consideration by the Board’s Membership Committee after considering the recommendations of regional screening committees. Fellows have a minimum of 20 years experience. Selection as a Fellow reflects the Board’s judgment that a nominee has made significant contributions to advancements in the employee benefits field.
In addition to the monetary prizes described in the attachment, the law students who submit the wining papers will be guests at the annual black tie dinner in New Orleans on November 9, 2013.
Each year the writing contest attracts submissions from approximately 20 law students from law schools around the country.
Eligibility/topics. Except as provided in (6) below, applicants must be enrolled full-time or part-time in law school between August 15, 2012 and August 15, 2013 and seeking a J.D. or a graduate law degree (e.g., LL.M.). Papers must deal with employee benefits topics. As an illustrative example, a paper might address legal issues involving health benefits, pensions, 401(k) plans, severance, executive compensation, claims, appeals, current or former spouses’ or domestic partners’ benefits, collectively-bargained benefits, benefits in bankruptcy, ERISA litigation, fiduciary obligations or the tax treatment of benefits/contributions.
Papers should not exceed 40 pages (double-spaced, in 12 point type, with an inch margin on each side), not including footnotes. Footnotes should be single spaced endnotes starting on a separate page.
Papers must be submitted as email attachments and should be submitted as Word or pdf documents. No information identifying the author or law school should be included in the text, the footnotes or the filename. That information, an address, a telephone number and enrollment status information should be provided in the email message.
Submissions may include papers prepared for class assignments, law journals or other purposes, as well as those written especially for the Competition.
Student papers submitted for publication in law reviews or other law school journals or periodicals but not yet published are eligible for the Competition, provided that (i) the version submitted for the Competition does not reflect any changes made to the paper after submission of the manuscript to any publication and (ii) the College receives any consents necessary to publish.
Selection of winners. Winning papers will be selected by the Writing Competition Committee based on the factors they deem relevant. Among other factors, the Committee will consider: (i) depth and creativity of legal analysis; (ii) thoroughness of legal research; (iii) organization and writing style; (iv) difficulty of subject matter; and (v) consideration of employee benefits policy implications. The determination of the Committee is final. It is anticipated that winners will be notified by August 31, 2013, or shortly thereafter.
Publication of winning article(s). The College will use its best efforts to arrange for publication of the winning papers in the BNA Pension and Benefits Reporter, the BNA Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal or other professional publications, subject to receiving any necessary consents from the author and any other journal. In addition, the winning papers will be distributed to the Fellows of the College.
Prizes. Cash prizes will be awarded for up to two winning papers. The College may, in its discretion, decide to split prizes, to award additional prizes or to award fewer than two awards. Winners will be guests of the College during its annual black tie dinner to be held on November 9, 2013 in New Orleans.
Deadline. Papers must be submitted in the manner described in paragraph 1(b) above and must be received no later than Midnight Central Time on June 1, 2013.
Disclaimer. The College disclaims responsibility for any failure to give due consideration to any submission due to any email or other electronic transmission, storage or archival errors, regardless of the cause. However, the Committee may waive the eligibility requirements applicable to any student whose properly submitted paper was not afforded due consideration on account of such an error in a prior year’s contest.
Questions concerning the Competition should be directed to Peter Kelly, Chair of the ACEBC Writing Competition Committee.