The 2008 Richard Grand Legal Writing Competition

Richard Grand conceived the idea of a writing competition that would emphasize persuasive skills and effective communication. This is the competition’s seventh year. All students at the Rogers College of Law are eligible to enter.

Using a legal problem prepared by the faculty at the Rogers College of Law, students prepare a written legal argument, an essay, or an article. The form and content of the problem changes from year to year. The students’ writing will be judged for accuracy, brevity, clarity, and content.

For this Competition, you are to write an editorial or an op-ed piece arguing either that
the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Kennedy v. Louisiana, 128 S.Ct. 2641 (2008) was rightly or
wrongly decided. In Kennedy, the Court held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the
imposition of the death penalty for the rape of a child.

THE PROBLEM: Posted: October 24, 2008 11:53

 Click here to view/print/download the problem

PRIZES:

The top five students will receive cash prizes of:
First Place: $2000
Second Place: $1000
Third Place: $500
Fourth & Fifth Place $250 each

WHO MAY ENTER:
All current students of the James E. Rogers College of Law may enter the competition. J.D. students, advanced-degree students, visiting students, and transfer students may enter.

DATES AND TIMES:
The competition runs from Friday, October 24 to Monday, November 3. The problem will be posted on the College of Law web site no later than noon on October 24. All entries must be submitted electronically no later than 8:00 a.m. on November 3. No late entries will be accepted.

COMPETITION NUMBERS
All entries must be submitted anonymously, using a competition number and not a name. To obtain your competition number, please e-mail legal writing assistant, Donald Sheldon, at donald.sheldon@law.arizona.edu. Tell him that you are participating in the Grand Legal Writing Competition and you would like a competition number. Please also tell him your name, phone number, and whether you are a 1L, 2L, 3L, or advanced degree student. Donald will e-mail you your competition number. Place this number on every page of your entry. We recommend that you obtain your competition number in the first day or two of the competition. That way, if we need to send an e-mail with a clarification or correction, Donald will be able to reach you.

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS:
Prior to Monday, November 3 at 8:00 a.m., please submit your finished entry electronically to donald.sheldon@law.arizona.edu. Follow the following guidelines:
--Send as an e-mail attachment in Word, WordPerfect, pdf, or Rich Text Format only.
--Write your competition number on each page of your answer.
If you submit an entry more than once, we will accept the e-mail with the latest time listed.

QUESTIONS:
If a question arises about this competition, you may choose to resolve it yourself by including an explanatory note with your entry. If you need to speak to someone to resolve a question, please send an email to Professor Suzanne Rabe at rabe@law.arizona.edu. Include your phone number in the email. Professor Rabe will check her e-mail regularly and answer questions within a reasonable amount of time.

Important: If you feel that disclosure of your identity with your question might in any way – no matter how remotely – compromise the anonymity of your entry, please send your question to Donald Sheldon at donald.sheldon@law.arizona.edu. Mr. Sheldon, who will not be involved in the judging of the competition, will either (1) answer your question himself or (2) remove all indications of your identity before he seeks an answer from Professor Rabe.

JUDGING AND AWARDS:
Entries will be judged for accuracy, clarity, brevity, and persuasiveness. A winning entry will be well-written, well-reasoned, and interesting. Professor Suzanne Rabe and Professor Lee Tucker will evaluate the student entries and choose five finalists. Then, a panel of outside judges will rank the finalists to determine the order of the awards. The awards will be announced in January, 2009.