Overview and Purpose | Rules and Entry Information
Past Winners


Congratulations to the winners of the Schwab Essay Contest! To read winning essays, just click on the title links (if provided). 


2012

First Place
Jessica Hoffman
Florida Coastal School of Law
Jacksonville, FL 
"You Say Adoption, I Say Objection: Why the Word War over Embryo Disposition Is More Than Just Semantics"


Second Place
Georgia Gebhardt
University of San Diego School of Law
San Diego, CA
"Hello Mommy and Daddy. How in the World Did They Let You Become My Parents?"


Third Place 
Michelle Boykin 
University of South Carolina School of Law 
Columbia, SC 
"A Comparison of Japanese and Moroccan Approaches in Adopting the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction"

 


2011

First Place
Natalie Amato
University of Maryland School of Law
Baltimore, MD 
"Black v. Simms: A Lost to Benefit Children By Preserving Sibling Relationships When Same-Sex Families Dissolve"


Second Place
Kaitlyn McKenna 
Hofstra University School of Law
Hempstead, NY 
"A Global Perspective of Children’s Rights: Advocating for U.S. Citizen Minors after Parental Deportation Through Federal Sub Agency Creation"


Third Place 
Andrea Potter 
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law 
New Orleans, LA 
Sexting and Louisiana's Punishment for Children the Law Intends to Protect from Prosecution Under Pornography Statutes



2010



2009



2008

First Place
Christine Olson
UC Davis School of Law
Davis, CA
"Second Class Families: Interstate Recognition of Queer Adoption"


Second Place
Sally Adams
Vermont Law School
South Royalton, VT
"Avoiding Round Two: The Inadequacy of Current Relocation Laws and a Proposed Solution"


Third Place
Lauren Douglass
Washburn University School of Law
Topeka, KS
"Avoiding Conflict at Home When There is Conflict Abroad: Military Child Custody and Visitation"



2007

First Place
Lila Slovak
Temple University Beasley School of Law
Philadelphia, PA
"Smoke Screens: Why State Laws Making It a Crime to Smoke in Cars Containing Children Are a Bad Idea"


Second Place
Jessica Hawkins
Washington University School of Law
St. Louis, MO
"My Two Dads: Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Applying California's Recent Supreme Court Cases to Gay Couples"


Third Place
Tracie Rogalin Siddiqui
Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, D.C.
"Interpretation of Islamic Marriage Contracts"



2006

First Place
Katherine M. Krause
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Philadelphia, PA
"Issues of State Use of Social Security Insurance Beneficiary Funds for Reimbursement of Foster-Care Costs"


Second Place
Deborah P. Cromer
Whittier Law School
Costa Mesa, CA
"Through No Fault of Their Own: Reasserting a Child's Right to Family Connectedness in the Child Welfare System"


Third Place
Annie Y. Wang
Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara, CA
"Unmarried Cohabitation: What Can We Learn From a Comparison Between the United States and China?"



2005

First Place
Karly Grossman
Temple University School of Law
Philadelphia, PA
"Transsexuals and the Legal Determination for Sex"


Second Place
Melissa Kucinski
Pace University Law School
White Plains, NY
"New York's Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage"


Third Place
Matthew Pakula
Michigan State University College of Law
East Lansing, MI
"A Federal Filial Responsibility Statute: A Uniform Tool to Help Combat the Wave of Indigent Elderly"



2004

First Place
Marcia Yablon
Yale Law School
New Haven, CT
"Statement of Originality for Paper on the Indian Child Welfare Act Amendments of 2003"


Second Place
Alyssa Rower
Duke University School of Law
Durham, NY
"The Legality of Polygamy: A Discussion of Whether Polygamy Should be Legalized under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment following Lawrence v. Texas"


Third Place
Matthew Astle
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA
"An Ounce of Prevention: Marital Counseling Laws as an Anti-Divorce Measure"

Note: More examples of winning essays that have been published in the Family Law Quarterly may be found in Vol. 37, No. 3, (Fall 2003) and Vol. 38, No. 3 (Fall 2004).

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