2026 Church, State & Society Writing Competition for Law Students and Law Clerks

Passing this along, for readers who fit the criteria (or who know those who do):

The Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School is pleased to announce a writing competition on topics and questions within the Program’s focus. This writing competition requests student-authored scholarly papers and will honor winners with cash awards. The purpose of this writing competition is to encourage scholarship related to the intersections of church, state & society and, in particular, how the law structures and governs that intersection.

Topic and Form: Papers should be focused, broadly, on topics related to church, state & society. For guidance on selecting a topic, students may wish to view our Program website and mission statement: https://churchstate.nd.edu/

Papers must be between 9,000-13,000 words, including footnotes and/or endnotes.

Eligibility: The competition is open to law students in good standing, enrolled in a traditional law degree (J.D. or LL.B.), a Master’s degree (LL.M.), or a doctoral degree (S.J.D./J.S.D. or Ph.D.) program at an ABA-accredited law school within the United States. The competition is also open to recent graduates not yet practicing law (i.e., those completing clerkships or engaged in similar pursuits are eligible). Co-authored papers will not be accepted.

Submissions: Papers must be submitted by April 30, 2026.

Winners will be announced on or before June 1, 2026. Papers must be e-mailed in .pdf form. Each submission must include a cover letter and resume in a separate .pdf document. Papers should not include author names in order to ensure that the papers can be delivered to judges and scored anonymously. Emailed submissions should be sent with “2026 Church, State & Society Writing Competition” in the subject line, and addressed to: Alicia Cummins acummin2@nd.edu.

Judges: Papers will be judged by Prof. Richard W. Garnett, director of the Program on Church, State & Society; by Prof. Jorge Barrera-Rojas, the Notre Dame Law School Rodes Fellow; by other faculty members at Notre Dame Law School; and possibly by law & religion scholars from other U.S. law schools.

Prizes: First Place, $3,000 cash award; Second Place, $2,000 cash award; Third Place, $1,000 cash award; Honorable Mention(s), $500 cash award.

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