Writing Center Resources

Texts

The Redbook: A Manual On Legal Style by Bryan A. Garner
Language Power: Tutorials for Writers by Dana R. Ferris

Online Resources

Purdue OWL: English as a Second Language Resources
- (see left side bar for topics)
Purdue OWL: How to Edit Your Paper
Purdue OWL: Plagiarism and ESL Writers
- Note: be sure the citation guidelines you use are Bluebook compliant! (ignore APA and MLA style references)
Purdue OWL: Writing Emails
Purdue OWL: Prepositions
Grammarly
Quick and Dirty Tips (By Grammar Girl)
American English Idioms:

Podcasts

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Writing (available on Apple and Soundcloud)
Espresso English (available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and the podcast's website)
English as a Second Language Podcast (Available on Apple and Youtube)

The 2023 Edward C. Mendrzycki Award a Scholarly Writing Competition for Law Students and Young Lawyers

A $5,000 Cash Award And other valuable prizes, including round trip airfare to San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 2 night hotel stay at the Fairmont Hotel El San Juan and conference registration to attend the 2023 LPL Spring Conference.

This Year's Topic: The hypothetical involves multiple ethical and professional liability concerns that arise when a partner in a law firm is retained to represent a client in several business and real estate matters regarding a series of land acquisitions, and the law firm is contacted by the Department of Justice to assist in the investigation of potential money laundering allegations against the client.

The Competition is sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability and The Law Firm of Long & Levit LLP

Postmark deadline: February 15, 2023

MARSHALL M. SCHULMAN 2022-2023 COMPETITION FOR STUDENT PAPERS IN CRIMINAL LAW AND/OR CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Deadline: April 30, 2023

The following prizes are available:

GRAND PRIZE
- $1500 cash prize
- The Grand Prize –winning paper will be published in the Criminal Law Journal, the official quarterly publication of the Criminal Law Section of the State Bar of California
- One-year student membership in the Criminal Law Section

THREE HONORABLE MENTION PRIZES:
- $500 cash prize
- Each of the papers awarded Honorable Mention status will be published in the Criminal Law Journal, the official quarterly publication of the Criminal Law Section of the State Bar of California
- One-year student membership in the Criminal Law Section

The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation 30th Annual Brown Award

The Award honors excellence in legal writing in American law schools. Any law student currently enrolled in an accredited law school in the United States seeking a J.D. or LL.B. degree is eligible to submit a paper for the Award. Amounts awarded:

$15,000 First Place,
$7,500 Second Place,
$5,000 Third Place,
$2,500 Finalist,
$2,500 Finalist, and

$5,000 to the Scholarship Fund selected by the Dean of the law school in which the First-Place candidate is enrolled. There is no page limitation or restriction on the topic except that the writing must be on a legal subject. Papers that have been submitted to a law review for publication are eligible, but the submission must be of the paper in its form before it was edited by anyone other than the author.

The article must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a law school faculty member or legal professional other than the author of the paper. Only one paper may be submitted on behalf of any student, and only one paper may be sponsored by any faculty member or legal professional.

Deadline: The submission must be postmarked no later than May 31, 2023.

The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law Annual Law Student Writing Competition for 2023

Deadline: June 15, 2023

The following prizes are available:

First Place: $3,000; Second Place: $1,000; and Third Place: $500.
One or more articles may be selected for publication in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law.

2023 American Inns of Court Warren E. Burger Prize

Deadline: July 1, 2023

The American Inns of Court Warren E. Burger Prize is a writing competition designed to promote scholarship in the areas of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence. Judges, lawyers, professors, students, scholars, and other authors are invited to participate in the competition. Please submit an original, unpublished, essay of 10,000 to 20,000 words on a topic of your choice addressing issues of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence.

The author of the winning essay will receive a cash prize which will be presented to the recipient at the American Inns of Court annual Celebration of Excellence at the Supreme Court of the United States.