there ought to be a law essay contest

there ought to be a law essay contest

The Importance of a Law Essay Contest

1. Introduction

Scholarship essay contests are becoming increasingly popular, largely because they require no interview and minimal paperwork. With an essay contest, the student must create a creative or analytical work on the intended topic. This might seem daunting at first, but it’s merely another opportunity to exert yourself and distinguish your work from other applicants. The key to this, as said by a neurosurgeon who is president of The Brain Injury Association of America, is “scholarships tend to be awarded to individuals who have helped out with brain injury survivors or are planning on going into that line of work.” Now, don’t get worried by this last quote. It simply seeks to say that the topic of the essay should in some way be linked to your desired field of work and showcases that students may write essays about themselves that reflect well on achievements working with brain injury survivors.

Various organizations have been established as the demand for esteemed and exceptional lawyers has increased. One remarkable organization is The Expert Institute, a place where nursing school lawyers, paralegals, lawyer-scientists, and other professionals in the legal industry can be found. This organization has developed a national scholarship to provide $3000 to a student that has great visions of being a lawyer with an interest in issues facing those with brain injuries and takes pride in helping old people. This scholarship requires an essay submission. In turn, the student will be entered to win the national scholarship. Another organization is “Harmarville’s Rehab Center”. This organization is offering an annual scholarship for brain injury survivors. Although individuals with brain injuries tend to have memory and cognitive problems and are usually too overloaded with medical bills to contemplate college, this scholarship is specifically for a high student who has suffered a brain injury and has a determination to attend college. Both of these scholarships require some type of essay submission, and there are various other scholarship providers that offer money for law-related papers.

2. Benefits of a Law Essay Contest

The connection of law students with the practice of law is an essential requirement for an effective transition from academia to the profession. It is no longer sufficient that a law degree provides a strong understanding of legal theory and reasoning. Whether at the undergraduate or postgraduate level, there are too many law graduates who are unable to acquire training contracts or pupillage due to their lack of understanding of the practical aspects of law and its application. This is especially true with the modern emphasis on fee-earning and billing targets within larger law firms as a result of the rise in costs of legal education and the need for debt-ridden graduates to fund the high costs of qualification in comparison to days gone by.

The benefits of such opportunities are evident. First, it will not only provide an insight into the issues affecting the judiciary to a wider audience, but it will also encourage the judiciary and legal professionals to reflect on its practices, which is essential to the maintenance of relevance and growth of these institutions. Many of the topics will also provide a platform to explore issues that have cropped up after the passage of new legislation. The interaction between the bar and bench in these activities can then be an effective way of ensuring that the rulings affect practical outcomes as having to perform the role-play would make lawyers consider in-depth the implications of such decisions. The best part is that this can be accomplished without compromising the essential privacy of client’s information, which is not the case in some form of judicial review simulations.

3. Promoting Legal Knowledge and Skills

Acquiring new skills can be a fun and useful way to increase one’s knowledge. Sometimes the results of an essay contest can lead to the seeker gaining new skills in an attempt to a better understanding of the essay’s topic. For example, it is not uncommon for those that have won a law essay contest to have a deeper understanding of the law, and to have acquired a new skill in the process, such as research, advocacy, or public speaking. These same skills are something that can be taught to others as well as put into use. Finally, an essay contest can set learning in motion, a bit of a domino effect, as the seeker will often search for more similar contests in an attempt to extend the depth of his newfound knowledge and skills. By using contests to promote legal knowledge and skills, the abilities of the student can only increase.

Taking in knowledge should always be combined with it being retained, but also taken a step further so that it is fully understood. Once the knowledge is understood, it can be used and/or taught to others in a practical way. The retention of information will always start to decline if knowledge is not put into practical use, however the more one is able to use that knowledge the more likely they will retain it.

There is more to study for than just good grades. Essay contests in law often focus on achieving a deeper level of learning. It is a good way to learn, as our brain retains an increased amount of information when we are given smaller “chunks” of it at a time. An essay contest is a fantastic way to get the creative juices flowing, and often times, our brain can do its best work when we are under some pressure. Learning in specific areas is another way to increase the depth at which one’s knowledge retains at. Essays allow students the ability to focus their full attention on one specific area, therefore enhancing their knowledge in that area.

4. Encouraging Critical Thinking and Analysis

But law students were a bit naive and did not understand what it was to actually practice law. It is one thing to think critically, the next step is to be able to communicate your thoughts with others. Writing is an important skill for any lawyer; they have to be able to draft contracts and also write persuasively. The essay contest allows students to put their critical thinking into practice. The student from the winning team, Krista, mentioned that the opportunity to research, think critically, and produce a written work has given her the opportunity to improve her writing skills. The research and writing is all good practice for future legal endeavors.

Copyright for Good (CFG) used the contest to get students to think critically. The competition essay topic is ‘Intellectual Property: How does it affect the world of today and tomorrow?’ limits the students’ scope to copyright law and some patents. This means that they have to think hard about the issue, research into it, and produce something of value. Students have to develop an understanding of the topic and make sense of it. They then have to put their ideas into written form. This requires a lot of critical thinking as they have to form their own ideas and then communicate them coherently. This is a skill that is invaluable to law students and lawyers. One former lawyer, George, guest blogged on the topic. He mentioned that he rarely came across law students that had the ability to think critically and analytically. He lamented the fact that law students enter law school without any real thinking skills and with the world of law becoming more and more competitive, only those with real critical thinking skills will succeed.

5. Conclusion

The competition had a rich learning experience and journey. This needs to be recalled as the same is the reason for the purpose of holding this competition. It involves the students, their learning, and their idea of expressing the law. Diverse topics infused in their classical, constitutional, criminal, international law attainments. This led to enriched expressions on various facets of the law. Global issues on environmental protection, women empowerment, rights of LGBT were being expressed with a global view. And India’s love for international law was expressed through the various topics. Responses garnered an idea that we know what it is that is prevalent or should be right, but maybe we don’t have an apt law on that or we have laws but have failed to interpret the same in a spirit it was enacted, pondering whether law is silent on many issues or is the fault of no implementation. And the best part was responses questioned the laws that are being taught in the university curricula; this indeed leads to a paradigm shift in interpretation and understanding the statutory provisions and judicial precedents. This changes the whole scenario of the law teaching and understanding in a vibrant way. The competition has been a complete robe of diverse issues of law woven in a single fabric. And all the participants have been a law apprentice.

The Law Essay Competition started in the year 2014 and was organized each year with the same fervor and enthusiasm. The initiative was taken by Mr. Bhagat Tulsi Trust and the National University of Juridical Sciences. The aim was to imbibe the culture of essay writing and expression amongst the students. The competition has been a grand success. After a successful decade, this indeed is the final year of the competition. It is really abrupt and sad to see the competition call for an adieu. But yes, pinch of salt and hope that we return with answers that are more fulfilling and indeed solve the intrinsic problems of the competition.