The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts present the twelfth annual Family Law Writing Competition
Hofstra Law and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) are sponsoring the eleventh annual Family Law Writing Competition. The competition is run in cooperation with the editorial staff of the Family Court Review, which is the academic and research journal of AFCC. The Family Court Review is an interdisciplinary and international journal published quarterly by Wiley and in cooperation with the Center for Children, Families, and the Law at Hofstra Law. The Family Court Review contributes to and facilitates discourse among the judicial, legal, mediation, mental health and social services communities.
Topics for Submission
The subject of entries may be within any area of family law, although topics that focus on international or interdisciplinary subjects of family law are especially encouraged. Articles should concentrate on a current legal issue and must have a strong foundation in legal research. Use of interdisciplinary sources may also be appropriate for many topics.
Entries will be judged on the quality of legal analysis, originality, depth of research, timeliness, creativity and format. The Family Court Review’s editors and a subcommittee of editorial board members will evaluate all articles.
Authorship
Submissions must be the work of one person. No joint authorships will be accepted, except articles written jointly by a law student and mental health, social science, or other relevant graduate student. Submissions must be originally argued and researched legal papers. Hofstra Law students are ineligible to participate. Law students can be from any country. Advice and input from professors, judges, and professionals in the field is allowed, but the author must research and write the entire article. Entries cannot be more than 25 double-spaced pages in length, including footnotes. Articles must be in Times New Roman, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins. Authors form the United States must comply with The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 20th Edition. Authors from outside the United States must conform to the relevant legal citation format commonly used in that country and must indicate the citation format used. The submitted article cannot be published or submitted for publication elsewhere.
AWARDS
First Prize
- $500 cash prize courtesy of the Center for Children, Families and the Law at Hofstra Law
- Certificate of recognition as first-place winner.
- Consideration for publication of the article in the Family Court Review
- Letter to the dean of the student’s law school
- One-year complimentary AFCC student membership, including a one-year subscription to the Family Court Review
OR
Complimentary conference registration to AFCC’s 58th Annual Conference, held June 2-5, 2021, in Boston, Massachusetts (Does not include hotel, transportation and food)
Honorable Mention
(Up to two)
- $250 cash prize courtesy of the Center for Children, Families and the Law at Hofstra Law
- Certificate of recognition as the honorable-mention winner
- Consideration for publication of the article in the Family Court Review
- Letter to the dean of the student’s law school
SUBMISSION PROCESS
Applicants must download the Entry Form from law.hofstra.edu/FCR and e-mail the completed form to fcr@hofstra.edu for an anonymous entry number by February 1, 2021. Applicants who do not submit an Entry Form by February 1, 2021 are ineligible. All submissions must be emailed as a Microsoft Word or PDF document to the Family Court Review at fcr@hofstra.edu. Hard copies are not permissible.
DUE DATE
Entry forms must be received by February 1, 2021. Article submissions must be received by February 15, 2021. The winner will be notified no later than March 15, 2021.
CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, please contact the Managing Editor of the Family Court Review at fcr@hofstra.edu.
RELEVANT LINKS
Association of Family and Conciliation Court (AFCC): http://www.afccnet.org/
Hofstra Law’s Center for Children, Families and the Law: law.hofstra.edu/CenterForChildren
Hofstra Law’s L.L.M. Program in Family Law: law.hofstra.edu/LLMFamilyLaw
Family Court Review: law.hofstra.edu/FCR