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. 

 

Slaughter & May – Innovation Competition 2022

The Slaughter and May Innovation Competition is an exciting opportunity for law and non-law students to develop their creative thinking skills by considering what the future might look like for the legal sector and what the next big disruption might be.Applicants are asked to submit a response, in any format they deem appropriate (for example video, podcast, blog post), to one of two set questions by 4 April 2022 for a chance to win £1,000 cash prize and a work placement within the Knowledge & Innovation team at Slaughter and May. The applicants who come in second and third place will win £500 and £250 respectively. Applicants are asked to submit a response to one of the following two questions: How can law firms innovate to ensure that environment, social and governance (ESG) goals are met internally and for their clients? OR What can law firms do to help individuals maintain and develop personal relationships in the hybrid/virtual world of work?

To apply and/or find more information please see our website. Please email innovation@slaughterandmay.com if you have questions about the competition.

 

The Gide / Gray’s Inn French-English Law Essay Prize – win £1500 + 2 week paid internship 

Gray’s Inn and Gide are launching their French-English Law essay prize, which will open for submissions in 2022.  We are keen to get the word out to any interested students who have been in legal education for less than six years at the time of submission of the essay (the deadline will be in August 2022). Interested students can register to receive further information once it is available by emailing Gide. It is not a requirement to be a member of Gray’s Inn to enter an essay.
The winner will receive a prize of £1,500 plus a two-week paid internship with Gide London. The runner-up will receive a prize of £1,000. The winning author’s essay will be published in the Gray’s Inn Student Law Journal and on the Gide website.
The topic which will be announced at Easter 2022 will involve a comparison of the law affecting commercial transactions in the French and English legal systems, with submissions of no longer than 2,500 words required by the end of August 2022, and the winner and runner-up being announced in late September 2022.
The panel of Judges from Gide and Gray’s Inn will be chaired by Lady Justice Nicola Davies who will be joined on the panel by: Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson, a judge at the Conseil d’Etat in Paris; Simon Whittaker, Professor of European Comparative Law and a Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford; Michael Butcher, co-founder and Past President of the Franco-British Lawyers Society; Philippe Dupichot, Professor of law at the Sorbonne and Head of Gide’s Scientific Council; and Nadège Nguyen, partner in Gide’s Mergers & Acquisitions/Corporate practice group.
Ali Malek QC, Treasurer of Gray’s Inn says “it is important to engage with lawyers in the foreign jurisdictions both civil and common law based. We have a lot to learn from each other. The inauguration of the Gray’s Inn French-English Law Essay Prize reflects how Gray’s Inn is moving forward with an international outlook. We are delighted to be partnering with the leading law firm Gide in launching this competition.”

 

 
Africa Essay Prize 2021

The Slaughter and May Africa Essay Prize is an exciting opportunity for law and non-law students to demonstrate their commercial and legal skills in an African context and have the chance to win a substantial prize.

Applicants are asked to submit a 1,000 word essay response to one of two set questions by 24 January 2022 for a chance to win £1,000 cash prize, a (in person or virtual) coffee with members of our Africa Practice Group, and a CV review. This will also include a 1 hour one to one coaching session with our Learning and Development team. Runners-up will receive a cash prize and goody bag, alongside a (in person or virtual) coffee with members of our Africa Practice Group and a CV review.

Applicants are asked to submit a response to one of the following two questions:

What lessons can African nations learn from the COVID-19 pandemic?

OR

If you were tasked with drafting mining legislation for an African country of your choice, what are the key laws you would pass and why?

To apply and/or find more information please see our website. If you have any queries please email AfricaEssayPrize@slaughterandmay.com.

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).

Non-legal competitions

 

StudentCompetitions.com  –  https://studentcompetitions.com/ –   This website is trying to collate all of the student competitions nationally and some globally too.