Competitions +
There are frequently competitions – essays, presentations, moots, business challenges, social media posting etc. which allow you to showcase your excellence/talents/creativity. They are worth entering for many reasons but especially because it will build your profile and set you apart from the competition. Plus, you might actually win something! Prizes range from prestige to money, work experience, publication to trips abroad.
The competitions listed on this page are ones which I think may be relevant to law students (not all will be in law!) but there may be many more ‘out there’ – keep an eye on LinkedIn and social media platforms (you should be following some legal organisations/employers/lawyers etc.)
Law-related competitions
If any of the links provided don’t work go to the organisations home page and search in the website.
The Aspiring Solicitors’ commercial awareness competition
Win work experience at top firms (may lead to TC)
This annual competition really does give winners the edge – winners in the past have gained training contract offers from sponsoring firms. This is a chance for you to gain exposure to some top named firms and show them how good you are in a different type of competitive field. You enter as an individual and go through various ’rounds’ before being placed in a team for the finals. You will need to be a member of Aspiring Solicitors to enter but this is free and comes with lots of benefits so sign up today. To find out more see the information on https://www.aspiringsolicitors.co.uk/commercial-awareness-competition/ The closing date is usually October.
BIUCAC Commercial Awareness Competition
As above, this is an annual competition which is sponsors by some leading firms giving you the chance to win work experience, mentoring and more. Find out more on https://www.biucac.com/
Kent students have done well in this competition with a 3rd place winner rin 2021 – https://www.kent.ac.uk/law/news/6761/kent-law-student-finishes-third-in-national-commercial-awareness-competition
Mooting Competitions
There is a lot of opportunity to get involved with mooting at KLS and we also enter lots of students into regional and national competitions. See the Moodle Mooting Page at LW638 for more help – Course: Mooting (2021/2022) (kent.ac.uk)
Essay competitions
There are several essay competitions every year with prizes that include money and work experience. They usually open for entries during autumn or spring term. The following may not currently be ‘live’ competitions but, I’ve provided the names and links so that you can research them and make a note of when they will be next run (they are usually the same time every year).
- Human Rights Lawyer’s Association competition – a team competition where finalists present at the RCJ. Has been put on hold during the pandemic. Read more here https://www.hrla.org.uk/judicial-review-competition/
- The Law Society – Graham Turnbull Human Rights essay competition – win £500.
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/topics/human-rights/graham-turnbull-international-human-rights-essay-competition - Times Law Awards competition – top prize £3500 – https://www.oeclaw.co.uk/times-law-awards.
- Future Legal Mind – win £1500 and mentoring with work placement – https://www.national-accident-helpline.co.uk/news/future-legal-mind.
- The Property Bar Association – essay competition for future property barristers. Advertised in autumn term with a entry deadline of January. Win £1000 + publication. The latest competition is detailed here but use the search facility to find details for the current year – https://www.propertybar.org.uk/events/previous/pba-essay-competition-2023
- V/Lexjustis – International Law and Technology Writing Competition – win £1500 + publication. https://vlex.com/writing-competition
- The Bar Council Law Reform Essay – win £4000 – https://www.barcouncil.org.uk/becoming-a-barrister/students-and-graduates/law-reform-essay-competition.html
- UELKA Andrew Lees – this is an environmental law essay with the prize being a change to speak at their annual conference. Competition has not run during C19 but will be back in the future https://www.ukela.org/UKELA/Networks/Students/Andrew-Lees-Essay-prize.aspx
- CLEA – Commonwealth Law Student Essay Prize – biannual competition – there are no details on the website about the 2020 competition (I have made an enquiry with the organisation and will update this page when I hear back from them) but I am including the weblink as this may simply be a C19 issue and the competition may be back in 2022 – http://www.clea-web.com/essay-competition/
- European Law Students Association – Moot Court Competitions – https://elsa-uk.org/mcc/ I’m including these Mooting competitions here because they are not ones that the KLS Mooting programme includes.
- Society for Computers and Law ran a competition in 2021 but I can’t find details of one for 2022/23. Leaving the link here in case they run it again as I know there is lots of interest in this growing area of practice. The prize was £300 + publication and it ran in the summer term – https://www.scl.org/student-essayprize-2021
- The International Dispute Resolution Centre – The Richard Mustill Essay prize – Win £10,000 – biannual competition (next one in 2024). Entries in Spring. There is not currently any details showing on the IDC website but the homepage is at www.idrc.co.uk
- Spicy IP – Intellectual Property Law essay competition – This annual competition, opens in May each year. You’ll win money in Indian Rupees but it is an international competition . There isn’t a single web page and you’ll have to look for the detail each year for the updates but start by looking at the launch details for 2022 and use the links on the website to find the most up-to-date info: https://spicyip.com/2022/05/announcing-the-3rd-shamnad-basheer-essay-competition-on-intellectual-property-law.html
- UK centre for Animal Law – prize is publication. Launches in November each year. https://www.alaw.org.uk/student-essay-competition/ They also have an annual animal law moot (https://www.alaw.org.uk/studentsacademics/)
- The Gide, Gray’s Inn French-English Law Essay Prize. Win £1500 + 2 week paid internship – This competition ran for the first time in 2022 and is running again in 2023 – it would appear to have become an annual competition so I’m leaving details on this page. The topic of the essay will be comparative law relevant to commercial transactions in the French and English legal systems. Essay topic will be revealed in June and there is a September deadline. There is not a useful weblink but, to register to participate or to receive further information email EssayPrize@gide.com
Non-legal competitions
StudentCompetitions.com – https://studentcompetitions.com/ – This website is trying to collate all of the student competitions nationally and some globally too.