Law Student

    Past Winners

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

    2019

    First Place
    Rachel Schwartzman
    Cardozo Law School
    New York City, NY
    "Utilizing Final-Offer Arbitration to Settle Divorces: An Analysis"

    Second Place
    Caitlyn Garcia
    Brooklyn Law School
    Brooklyn, NY
    “Replacing Foster care with Family Care: The Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018” 

    Third Place
    George Emmons
    Golden Gate University Law School
    San Francisco, CA
    “Domestic Violence Laws & the INA: How Domestic Violence Perpetrators Attain Immigration Benefits"

    2018

    First Place
    Stephanie Tabashneck
    Northeastern University School of Law
    Boston, MA
    "Family Drug Courts: Combatting the Opioid Epidemic"

    Second Place
    Stephanie O'Loughlin
    University of Connecticut School of Law
    Hartford, CT
    "Lessons from My Sister’s Keeper: A Minor’s Right to Refuse Life-Saving Treatment"

    Third Place
    Carolyn Lipp
    Yale Law School
    New Haven, CT
    "Fostering Uncertainty?:A Critique of Concurrent Planning in the Child Welfare System"


    2017

    First Place
    Joseph A. Carroll
    Dickinson School of Law, The Pennsylvania State University
    Sommerset, PA
    ”Family Law Is Not “Civil”: The Faulty Foundation Of The Domestic Relations Exception To Federal Jurisdiction”

    Second Place
    Michelle Gros
    Southern University Law Center
    Prairieville, LA
    “In The Case Of Biology V. Psychology: Where Did My "Parent" Go?”

    Third Place
    Morgan Chandler
    University of Montana
    Missoula, MT
    “The "De-Chattelization" Of Companion Animals Through Family Law Legislation: How Alaska's H.R. 147 Has Dismantled The Traditional Property Law View Of Pets”

    2016

    First Place
    Lisa Havilland
    The George Washington University School of Law
    Dickerson, MD
    “One Year Isn’t Enough: How the Hague Abduction Convention’s One-Year Limitation Encourages Abductors to Conceal Their Child’s Whereabouts”

    Second Place
    Rachel Shute
    Suffolk University Law School
    Boston, MA
    “Family and Medical Leave: Examining Recovery and Bonding Time to Promote Healthy Families Who Utilize Surrogacy”

    Third Place
    Anna Clark
    University of Baltimore School of Law
    Forest Hill, MD
    “Where’s My Sister? Siblings Should Have a Statutory Right to be Placed Together in Foster Care”


    2015

    First Place
    Jamie Bryant
    University of Maine School of Law
    Portland, ME
    "My Two Dads (and Three Moms): Balancing a Child's Interest and a Parent's Fundamental Right When Granting De Facto Parent Status"

    Second Place
    Zoe Garvin
    Gold Gate University School of Law
    San Francisco, CA
    “The Unintended Consequences of Using Rebuttable Presumptions to Determine Child Custody in Domestic Violence Cases”

    Third Place 
    Maleaha Brown
    Howard University School of Law
    Washington, DC
    “When Pros Become Cons: Ending the NFL’s History of Domestic Violence Leniency”

    2014

    First Place
    Moriah Silver
    Northeastern Law School
    Boston, MA   
    "The Second Rape”: Legal Options for Rape Survivors to Terminate Parental Rights"

    Second Place
    Aaron Young
    Georgetown University Law Center
    Washington, DC
    " All in the Constitutional Family: Revisiting Definitions of Family Relationships in Immigration Law "

    Third Place 
    Lindsee A. Acton
    Washburn University School of Law 
    Topeka, KS
    " Overturning In re Gardiner:  Ending Transgender Discrimination in Kansas"


    2013

    First Place
    Kate Duncan Butler
    Washburn University School of Law
    Topeka, KS
    "Dramatic Leaps in the Right Direction: Protecting Physically Disabled Parents in Child Welfare Law"


    Second Place
    Jacqueline Clarke
    Michigan State University School of Law
    East Lansing, MI
    "Do I Have A Voice? An Empirical Analysis of Children's Voices in Michigan Custody Litigation"


    Third Place 
    Allison Adams
    Chicago-Kent College of Law 
    Chicago, IL
    "War of the Wiretaps: Serving the Best Interests of the Children?"

     

    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

    First Place
    Vanessa Lu
    Loyola University Chicago School of Law
    Chicago, IL
    "The Plan B Age Restriction Violates a Minor's Right to Access Contraceptives"

    Second Place
    Katherine Herrmann
    Ave Maria School of Law
    Naples, FL
    "Reestablishing the Humanitarian Approach to Adoption: The Legal and Social Change Necessary to End the Commodification of Children"

    Third Place
    Nellie Herchenbach
    Saint Louis University School of Law
    St. Louis, MO
    "Giving Back the Other Mommy: Addressing White v. White's failure to recognize legal parent status following Same-Sex Relationship Dissolution"



    2009

    First Place
    Andrea "Drew" Lehman
    USC Gould School of Law
    Los Angeles, CA
    "Inappropriate Injury: The CAse for Barring Consideration of a Parent's Homosexuality in Custody Actions"

    Second Place
    Kathleen L. Lee
    Indiana University Maurer School of Law
    Bloomington, IN
    "In Support of a Gender-Neutral Framework for Resolving Selective Reduction Disputes"

    Third Place
    Sean Masson
    Hofstra University School of Law
    Hempstead, NY
    "Cracking Open the Golden Door: A Proposed Amendment to Extend Refugee Status to Spouses Who Have Been Persecuted by China's One-Child Policy"


    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).