The Virginia Law Review (VLR) Online is excited to announce the topic for our summer student essay competition!
This competition is open to all current law students (including LLMs) and recent graduates (from the Classes of 2021–2024) from any ABA-accredited American law school. We will choose up to three winning submissions, each of which will be awarded a $300 cash prize (subject to any applicable tax reporting and withholding requirements). Current UVA Law students whose pieces are accepted for publication will be extended invitations to join the Virginia Law Review. All pieces must be submitted by September 1, 2025, at 11:59 PM (ET).
Prompt: This summer, we invite submissions that engage directly with a piece previously published by the Virginia Law Review, either in print or online. Virginia Law Review Online began as a space for responsive scholarship, and in keeping with that tradition, we are seeking essays that offer thoughtful responses, critiques, or extensions of arguments made in past essays, articles, or notes published by VLR.
Rules: Each individual may submit one piece, and submissions must be unpublished. Jointly written pieces (up to three authors) will be accepted. Pieces do not need to be exclusively submitted to VLR Online during the competition window. However, if you choose to publish the piece elsewhere, you must inform VLR Online by emailing Online Development Editor Madhavi Subramaniam (rfe7hv@virginia.edu) within 24 hours of acceptance. Students may not receive advising from VLR Online or Notes advisors on their pieces. Pieces may reflect conversations and light comments from professors and other students. They should not, however, be heavily edited by anyone other than the author(s).
Length: Pieces published as part of the VLR Online Student Essay Competition are footnoted and must be no more than 9,000 words in length (including footnotes).
Deadline: All pieces must be submitted by September 1, 2025, at 11:59 PM (ET).
Submission: Pieces must be emailed to valawrev.online@gmail.com in .docx format. The document must abide by these guidelines:
- The document should include a cover page containing:
- Title
- Abstract (250 words or fewer); and
- Word count for the piece (with and without footnotes).
- The file must be the [Piece Title], and the subject line of the email must be “VLR Online Essay Competition Submission”.
- Any identifying information must be removed from the body of the document as well as the personal information embedded in the digital file by following the instructions below. This includes removing identifying information typically included at the beginning of a Note in a * footnote. Correctly following all instructions will maintain each author’s anonymity.
- Word 2010, 2013, 2016:
- Go to File, select “Info”
- Click on “Check for Issues”
- Click on “Inspect Document”
- In the dialog box, click “Remove All” and close box
- Save document.
- Word for Mac 2016, 2018:
- Go to Tools
- Select “Protect Document” or select “Protect Document” button on Review tab
- Save document.
- Word 2010, 2013, 2016:
- In addition to the document above, all submissions must include the following information in a separate document, which is to be attached to the same email in .pdf format. The PDF should be titled “[Piece Title].Confidential”. This separate document should be a single page and include:
- Your name, phone number, e-mail address, and mailing address;
- The title of your submission; and
- A signed statement (an electronic signature will be accepted) that your piece was not heavily edited by anyone other than the author(s).
Any questions should be directed to the Online Development Editor, Madhavi Subramaniam (rfe7hv@virginia.edu).