2021 Affordable Housing & Community Development Law Student Legal Writing Competition
Official Rules:
This writing competition (“Competition”) is sponsored by the Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law (“Forum”) of the American Bar Association (“ABA”), 321 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654 (the “Sponsor”).
The goal of the competition is to encourage law students to become involved in the Forum. It is also intended to attract students to the affordable housing, community development or pro bono practice fields, and to encourage scholarship in these fields. Each entrant must follow the rules of the competition detailed herein.
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. Employees of the ABA, its respective affiliates, and immediate family or household members of such employees are not eligible for the Competition.
Topic: Entries should address any legal issue regarding affordable housing, fair housing and/or community development law.
Submission Requirements: (a) Entries must be original, unpublished work. Any relevant article or essay may be submitted for the competition, including writing submitted for academic credit. Submissions must not have been previously published in any media. Only one essay, per competition theme, may be submitted by each entrant. Failure to submit an original essay will result in disqualification and selection of a new winner. Entries should be between 25-50 double-spaced pages, with 1-inch margins, in Times New Roman, 12 pt. size Font. Articles should include footnotes in Bluebook format (single spaced in Times New Roman, 10 pt. size font and which shall count towards the word limit). (b) There is no entry form of any kind. Entries should be submitted in Word format. All author-identifying information should be removed from the entry. (c) A separate title page should be attached and must contain the entry’s title, the student’s name, law school and expected graduation year, and the student’s contact information including mailing address, phone number(s), and email address. (d) Entries must be submitted by e-mail to the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law (the “Journal”), Stephen Miller no later than 11:59 PM Central Time, on March 25, 2021. The Sponsor is not responsible for errors or for lost, late, or misdirected email, or telecommunication or hardware or software failures, including by reason of any bug or computer virus or other failure.
Selection and Notification of Winners: The entries will be judged anonymously by a five (5) person committee comprised of members of the Forum. Decision of the Sponsor (including the committee judging the entries are final). Entries will be judged based on the following criteria: clarity of the topic, significance of the topic, manner in which the topic is treated, organization, quality of analysis, quality of research, authority, and citations, and quality of grammar, syntax, and form. The winning entry will be notified by email by April 19, 2021, 11:59 pm Central Time. The winner must acknowledge and confirm agreement to the terms and conditions of winning the competition no later than April 23, 2021, after which he/she forfeits the prizes and another winner may be selected.
Award: A single winning entry, as judged by the selection committee, will be eligible to receive a prize of (a) a $1,000 cash prize. Winners will be solely responsible for reporting and payment of all taxes (federal, state, local or other) on prizes, which will include the value of any accommodations and airfare. Winners will be required to complete a W-9, affidavit of eligibility, tax acknowledgment and liability release for tax purposes. All forms must be completed and returned via email to Dawn R. Holiday within 15 business days of receipt, or prizes will be considered forfeited and another winner may be named. The decision of the Sponsor, including the judging committee is final.
At the sole discretion of the Sponsor, the winning essay may be selected for publication in the Journal. If selected for publication, winner will be required to sign a standard publication agreement giving the ABA the right of first publication. Please note: The Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law must have the first right of publication of the selected essay.
License/Grant of Rights: By entering, the winning entrant consents to the publication of her/his entry by the ABA, understands that such publication is not guaranteed, and grants the ABA the following rights: (1) the exclusive worldwide right of first publication of their entry in any and all ABA media or form of communication; (2) the non-exclusive worldwide right, in ABA’s sole discretion, to use, transcribe, publish reproduce, distribute, sell (as part of an ABA publication) or display the entry, alone or in conjunction with other materials; (3) the right to edit the essay to conform to the publication’s standards of style, technological requirements, language, grammar and punctuation, provided the meaning of the essay is not materially altered; and (4) the non-exclusive worldwide right to use the winner’s name and likeness in connection with the essay or this Competition, in each case, without further compensation. Additionally, the winning entrant must execute a separate publication agreement giving the ABA the publication rights enumerated above and the right to use the article for any other purpose related to the ABA mission. If the winner fails to sign the agreement within 30 calendar days of receipt, the prize will be considered forfeited and another winner named.
Entry Deadline: All entries must be emailed by March 25. 2021, 11:59 pm Central.
Odds of Winning: Chances of winning may vary depending on the number of entries. However, Sponsor reserves the right not to award any prize if the judges determine that no entries are of sufficient quality to merit selection that year.
Laws and Regulations: This Competition is governed by U.S. law and all relevant federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. By entering, all participants agree that the competition shall be governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, that the courts of Illinois shall have exclusive jurisdiction, and that Cook County, Illinois shall be the venue for any dispute or litigation relating to or arising from the competition. Void where prohibited by law.
Conditions of Participation: By participating, each entrant agrees to these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and releases and discharges the Sponsor, including but not limited to the ABA, subsidiary and affiliated entities, and each of their respective officers, directors, members, employees, independent contractors, agents, representatives, successors and assigns (collectively “Released Parties”) from any and all liability whatsoever in connection with this Competition, including without limitation legal claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages, demands or actions of any kind (including without limitation personal injuries, death, damage to, loss or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation, or portrayal in a false light) (collectively “Claims”). Except where prohibited, acceptance of a prize constitutes a release by any winner of the Released Parties of any and all Claims in connection with the administration of this promotion and the use, misuse or possession of any prize. All entries submitted to the ABA become the property of the ABA and will not be returned; however, entrants who do not win first- place may submit their entries for publication elsewhere. Entrants must not submit their articles for publication elsewhere prior to December 31, 2020. All expenses involved in preparing and submitting an entry are the sole responsibility of the entrant.
Sponsor is not responsible for errors or for lost, late, or misdirected mail or email, or telecommunication or hardware or software failures, including by reason of any bug or computer virus or other failure. Sponsor may cancel, modify or terminate the promotion if it is not capable of completion as planned, including by reason of infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, force majeure or technical difficulties of any kind.
Opt-Out Option: Announcement of Winners: For a list of prize winners, send a self-addressed stamped envelope by May 28, 2021 to the Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law of the American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654.
Please contact Dawn R. Holiday if you have any questions.