The submission window is open April 19, 2023 through July 1, 2023. The submission form will appear on this page during that time frame.
2023 George Hutchinson Writing Competition Rules
1. Students enrolled for the 2022/2023 school year in any law school accredited by the American Bar Association are eligible to enter. Pre-registration is not necessary. Submission of a paper in accordance with these rules constitutes registration.
2. All papers shall be prepared during the 2022/2023 school year. Papers shall be the sole work product of the student. Normal comment and guidance by law school faculty is permitted.
3. Papers are typically about 20-30 pages in length. Papers shall not exceed 50 pages, including footnotes. They must be typed, double-spaced, on 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper. All citations and footnotes should be in accordance with the current edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.
4. Papers must deal with a topic that lies within the substance, procedure, or scope of the specialized jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
5. The writing competition is judged by selected members of the FCBA. The papers will be judged generally on their substance, clarity, timeliness, and quality of argument, although details of form will not be ignored.
6. Papers are judged anonymously. The entrant's name and school should not appear within the uploaded document, but please name the pdf file with your first and last name. Contact information for the entrant will be requested during submission. Please be sure the email and/or telephone number provided will be valid during the late summer/early fall when winning notification will be made.
7. Entries must be postmarked no later than July 1, 2023.
Questions about the contest or submission process should be addressed to:
Miles Sweet
sweet.miles.foundation@mssm.org
8. A cash prize of at least three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) will be awarded for the entry deemed by the judges to be the best entry that merits the award. Second and third place cash prizes may also be awarded at the judges' discretion. Winners will be publicly announced at the FCBA’s November 2022 Annual Dinner in Washington, D.C. The prize-winning paper may be considered for publication in the Federal Circuit Bar Journal. All decisions of the judges are final.
9. Submission of a paper grants the FCBA the right to consider publication of the paper in the Federal Circuit Bar Journal. Previously published submissions will not be accepted. The FCBA reserves the right to publish the paper first, at which point the author may proceed with publication elsewhere. Failure of the student to preserve this grant may result in disqualification.
10. The FCBA reserves the right to screen entries and to limit the number of papers submitted to the judges for final decision. The Association also reserves the right to not award a prize, should there be no entry that, in the discretion of the FCBA, merits the award.