R. Marlin Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition for Law Students

Award Amount
Application deadline
Awarded By:

American Planning Association

Number of Awards & Eligibility: Three awards offered annually.
In order to qualify, students must meet the following criteria:
  1. This award is for U.S. students.
  2. Must be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen.
  3. Must enroll in a law program at an American Bar Association (ABA)-accredited law school.
  4. Must be currently enrolled in (or will complete during the current academic year) a program of study leading to a J.D. or L.L.B degree.

In order to qualify, students must meet the following criteria:

Description: This writing competition is open to U.S. students who are enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school. Students must submit a paper of no more than 45 pages on a question of significance in planning, planning law, land use law, local government law, or environmental law.

Application requirements for the R. Marlin Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition for Law Students are:

  • Paper
Additional Information: All entries must be the work of the individual; jointly-authored entries will not be considered. Entries may have been written for another purpose within the last year, such as a paper submitted for a course or internship, but must not have been previously published. Entries will be evaluated based on: originality; contribution to the understanding or development of the fields of planning and law; quality of scholarship; and quality and organization of writing.

Award Amount: The author of the winning paper will receive a prize of $2,000, and his/her paper will be published in the journal 'The Urban Lawyer.' The author of the second-place paper will receive a prize of $400.The author of the honorable mention paper will receive a prize of $100.  The total dollars awarded for this scholarship is $2,500.

Deadline Information:

Deadline for this scholarship is Friday, June 30, 2023

Deadline Information:

Deadline for this scholarship is Friday, June 30, 2023

Program information is available online from the American Planning Association (APA) website. Please note that there is no application form for this award. To enter the competition, the student must write a paper on a question of significance in planning, planning law, land use law, local government law, or environmental law. Papers are strictly limited to 45 pages with 1" margins on all sides. Text should be double-spaced and in 10-point font. Manuscripts should follow the stylistic guidelines of the 'Chicago Manual of Style' (latest edition) published by the University of Chicago Press. All citations should be footnoted and conform to the latest edition of 'A Uniform System of Citation' (the Blue Book) published by the Harvard Law Review Association. The applicant must send five copies of his/her entry to Professor Alan Weinstein at the address provided. Each of the copies should include two title pages. The first should contain the title of the entry, the name, address, and email address of the student, and identify the student's school and date of graduation; the second should contain the title of the entry only. Submissions must be postmarked by the deadline date.
About American Planning Association:
Contact Information: Professor Alan C. Weinstein, Chair
Address: Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University 2121 Euclid Ave., LB 138 Cleveland, Ohio 44115-2214

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