The Virginia Law Review (VLR) Online is excited to announce the topic for our fourth annual essay competition. This competition is open to all current law students (including LLMs) and recent graduates (from the Classes of 2020–2023) 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 January 2, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.
Prompt: In Riley v. California, Chief Justice John Roberts called the cell phone “such a pervasive and insistent part of daily life that the proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy.” 573 U.S. 373, 385 (2014). Technology continues to develop at a rapid pace, affecting all facets of our lives and presenting new challenges to judges, lawyers, advocates, law enforcement, legislators, and other stakeholders. We would like to learn more about these challenges and gather your novel thoughts on the possibilities and limitations of the law to govern constantly evolving technology.
This topic is intentionally broad, but submissions should focus on first explaining how technological advances have created or enhanced a certain problem, followed by a discussion of the way(s) in which the law (either alone or in conjunction with other forms of advocacy and action) might address these growing concerns. A non-exhaustive list of potential topics includes: privacy and technology, artificial intelligence, national security, social media, computer crimes, and policing.
Rules: Each individual may submit no more than one piece, and submissions must be previously unpublished.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 Dennis Ting (csc6qe@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 6,000 words in length (including footnotes).
Deadline: All pieces must be submitted by January 2, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.
Submission: Pieces must be emailed to vlronline_6bd2@sendtodropbox.com and valawrev.online@gmail.com in .docx format. The document must abide by these guidelines:
- The document should include a cover page containing:
- The title of the piece;
- An abstract of 250 words or less; and
- A word count for the piece, both 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, Dennis Ting (csc6qe@virginia.edu).