The Business Law Section sponsors an annual Student Writing Competition, open to all students who are candidates for the JD or LLM degree at an accredited law school during the year in which the article is submitted. The student articles submitted in a given year that are judged first, second, and third best, provided they are of publishable quality and otherwise meet the criteria of the Competition, will receive cash prizes of $2,000, $1,500, and $1,000, respectively. At the discretion of the editors, they also will be published in the NYSBA NY Business Law Journal, which is sponsored by the Section in cooperation with Albany Law School and is published in the Spring and Fall. Additional cash prizes may be awarded in the discretion of the Section, and the Section reserves the right to award some, all, or none of the prizes, depending on its determination of quality of submissions. Entries that do not qualify for cash prizes may also be considered for publication in the Journal.
Articles submitted will be judged on the following criteria:
- Relevance to the Journal’s audience (New York business lawyers)
- Timeliness of the topic
- Originality
- Quality of research and writing
- Clarity and conciseness
The manuscript should follow blue book cite format (using endnotes rather than footnotes) and be a minimum of 3,000 words (there is no maximum). Submissions should be made by February 15 for the Spring issue and August 15 for the Fall issue of the Journal. All submissions become the property of the NYSBA and the Business Law Journal. By submitting an article, the student is deemed to consent to its publication, whether or not a cash prize is awarded.
To enter, the student should submit an original, unpublished manuscript in Word format to David L. Glass, editor in chief, NYSBA New York Business Law Journal (david.glass@macquarie.com). The student should include a brief biography, including law school attended, degree for which the student is a candidate, and expected year of graduation.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WRITING COMPETITION WINNERS!
2020 Winners
The following winners were recognized on October 26, 2021 at the Business Law Section Fall Meeting.
1st Prize: Kei Komuro, Fordham University School of Law
“Compliance Problems in Website Accessibility and Implications for Entrepreneurs” (published Spring 2021 Journal)
About Kei
Kei Komuro is a recent graduate of Fordham University School of Law, who counsels entrepreneurs, emerging companies, and investors on venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, entity formation, and general corporate matters in the Corporate and the Tech Group at Lowenstein Sandler LLP. He has experience working in Tokyo at both a law firm and a foreign exchange bank where, as a certified securities broker representative, he provided loan and foreign exchange services and prepared financial analyses for non-Japanese corporate clients.”
2nd Prize: Joseph Rossello, Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
“Material or Puffery? Avoiding Securities Fraud Exposure Based on Corporate Codes and Statements of Policy” (published Spring 2021 Journal)
About Joseph
Joseph is a recent graduate from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, who focuses on the transactional side of residential and commercial real estate at Lieb at Law, P.C. On his free time, he enjoys following the stock and real estate market, golfing, and snowboarding.
2019 Winners
To be Recognized October 23, 2020 at the Business Law Section Fall Meeting (Virtual)
1st Prize: Katherine A. Cody, St. Johns University Law School
“Critical Audit Matters: Improving Disclosure Through Auditor Insight” (published Summer 2019 Journal)
2nd Prize: Kei Komuro, Fordham University School of Law
“Challenges and Implications for Potential Reforms of Crowdfunding Law for Social Enterprises” (published Summer 2019 Journal)
3rd Prize: Danielle Kassatly, University of California, Davis
“The Patentability of Technology in the Information Age” (published Summer 2019 Journal)
2018 Winners
Recognized May 29, 2019 at the Business Law Section Spring Meeting (New York, NY)
1st Prize: Melanie M. Lupsa, Seton Hall School of Law)
“Cybersecurity Guidance With No Teeth: SEC Recommendations Alone Are Not Enough to Protect Investors” (published in the Summer 2018 issue
2nd Prize: Monica Lindsay, Elizabeth Haub School of Law, Pace University
“Too Big for the CRA: Why Benefit Corporations Provide a Better Legal Framework For Banks to Serve Their Communities” (published in the Summer 2018 issue)
3rd Prize: Danielle Wilner, Syracuse University School of Law
“LIBOR: London’s Interbank Bridge Is Falling Down” (published in the Winter 2018 issue)
2017 Winners
Recognized May 24, 2018 at the Business Law Section Spring Meeting (New York, NY)
1st Prize: Niyati Sangani, New York Law School
“Cybersecurity and Its Impact on the Financial Services Industry” (published Summer 2017 Journal)
2nd Prize: Davide Szep, Fordham University School of Law
“Anti-Money Laundering and Privacy: Are They Interrelated or In Conflict?” (published Winter 2017)
3rd Prize: Grace Nealon, Albany Law School
“The Supreme Court’s Dodd-Frank Dilemma: Should Internal Whistleblowers Be Protected?” (published Winter 2017)
2016 Winners
1st prize: Caitlin Dance, New York Law School
“In re Coinflip, Inc.”
2nd prize: Lawrence Crane-Moscowitz, Vanderbilt University Law School
“Except For All the Others: A Compromise Proposal for Correcting the Incentives of Credit Rating Agencies in the Wake of the Dodd-Frank Act”
2015 Winners:
1st prize: Amanda A. Godkin and Matthew K. Mobilia, Albany Law School
Co-authors of “Emerging Equities in Paying for Municipal Services – The Problem with the Real Property Tax” (published in the NY Business Law Journal, Summer 2015)
2nd prize: Amanda Evans, University of Richmond School of Law
“Successfully Advocating for Gender Parity on Corporate Boards” (published in the NY Business Law Journal, Summer 2015)
2014 Winners:
1st prize: Richard Jones, New York Law School
“The Counterintuitive Effects of the Volcker Rule and the Push-Out Rule” (published in the NY Business Law Journal, Summer 2014)
2nd prize: Nithya Narayanan, Harvard Law School
“America’s Tweak to the Loser Pays Rule: A Board-Insulating Mechanism?” (published in the NY Business Law Journal, Winter 2014)
Missed the winning entries? Business Law Section members can access past issues of the NY Business Law Journal 24/7 here.