Contest Overview
Sponsored by: ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability and Long & Levit, LLP
Deadline for Submission
Winner Eugene Park (2nd) pictured with (from left): Shari Klevens, Chair, Standing Committee on Lawyers Professional Liability; Adam Smith, Partner, Coughlin Duffy LLP; and John Sullivan, Partner, Long & Levit LLP.
Thank you for submissions—please check back in December 2018 for details about the competition for Spring 2019
Contest Mission
The contest encourages original and innovative research and writing in the area of legal malpractice law, professional liability insurance
Prize
* All-expense-paid trip to the Spring 2018 National Legal Malpractice Conference in Washington, DC.
Sponsors
The Ed Mendrzycki Essay Contest is conducted by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability and the San Francisco law firm of Long & Levit LLP.
The 2018 contest is administered and judged by a subcommittee designated by the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability.
The Assignment
The 2018 Contest Essay Hypothetical involves the ethical concerns arising under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct where a law firm seeks to affiliate itself with litigation funding companies, including undertaking representation of one such company and, in turn, recommending its services to the firm's clients.
Contest Rules
Essay Requirements
Entries should be written as scholarly essays. All entries must be prepared for this contest and not previously published. Each entrant is required to assign to the ABA all rights, title and interest in the essay submitted. It is the policy of the ABA, however, to release all assigned rights in all but the winning essay.
Essays should not exceed 3,000 words, including quoted matter and citations. Footnotes are not permitted and citations should be incorporated into the main text.
Entrants may seek general feedback on their draft essays from professors, colleagues, and the like. An essay submitted to the competition, however, must be entirely the entrant's own work product and may not be written or edited by any other person.
The essay should be typewritten, double-spaced on 8 1/2" x 11" pages. The number of words on each page should be entered on the bottom right hand corner of each copy. The total number of words should be entered on the last page. In computing the number of words, all articles and prepositions should be counted. Count numbers and abbreviations as words. For example F.2d = 1 word; 746 F.2d 619 = 3 words.
Complete and sign one of the paper entry forms (PDF or Word) or you can use the Online Contest Entry & Agreement Form, providing your full name, address and telephone number as indicated.
Identification
For identification, an entry number will be assigned on receipt of the entry, and the entrant will be advised of the number. One cover sheet showing the name, address and telephone number of the entrant, together with the entrant's title for the entry, should be submitted with the essay. No identification other than the title should appear on the essays themselves. The cover sheet will be removed before the essay is read by the judges to assure objectivity in the judging process.
Eligibility
The contest is open to Young Lawyers Division or Law Student Division members of the ABA, in good standing as of March 9,
Judging
Essays will be judged by a subcommittee designated by the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability and the San Francisco law firm of Long & Levit LLP, whose decision will be final and whose names cannot be divulged. The ABA and the judges reserve the right to award no prize.
National Legal Malpractice Conference
The winner of the contest will receive round-trip coach airfare to the American Bar Association 2018 Spring National Legal Malpractice Conference in Washington DC, lodging for up to two nights during the conference, and will be a guest at conference meals and events.
Additional Information
For further information, contact Marcia Yarbrough at marcia.yarbrough@americanbar.org or (312) 988-5763.
How to Submit Entries
Electronic Submissions
If you would like to submit your entry electronically, you will need to fill out and submit the Contest Entry & Agreement Form (Online) with your essay attached. Your essay should not exceed 2.5 MB and should be in one of the following formats: MS Word, PDF, TXT, RTF, or HTML. Your entry must be submitted by 11:59 pm Central time on March 9, 2018.
Paper Submissions
If you would prefer to submit your entry by mail, you will need to download, print, and fill out one of our paper Contest Entry & Agreement Form (PDF or Word). The completed form and two copies of your essay should be mailed first-class, without folding, on or before March 9, 2018. U.S. Postal Service postmark will determine mailing date. The materials may also be sent via an express delivery service and shipped on or before March 9, 2018.
Entries should be mailed to:
American Bar Association
LPL Mendrzycki Essay Contest
ATTN: Marcia Yarbrough
FL 17
321 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60654