In the 2024-25 academic year, Animal Justice will again host a Student Research Paper Contest. Now in its sixth year, the contest offers cash prizes and awards for the top three outstanding law school papers. Awards will be presented in person in fall 2025 Student Conference during the Canadian Animal Law Conference.
Prizes for the top three papers are:
- First place prize – $300
- Second place prize – $200
- Third place prize – $100
The contest is part of Animal Justice’s work to support animal law clubs at Canadian law schools and foster the next generation of animal lawyers. It aims to encourage student scholarship in the growing field of animal law, and support law students who have done outstanding research into the pressing legal issues facing nonhuman animals.
The contest is also a great CV builder for students, and a way to dive deeper into unlocking the power of law to help animals. Students may choose to enter with a paper written as part of their legal studies in the fall or winter semester. Students often submit papers prepared for an animal law class, another relevant class, or a directed research project.
The contest is open to members of Animal Justice student clubs at Canadian law schools, and submissions must meet the following requirements:
- Topic: Submissions must focus on animal law in Canada and be academic in nature.
- Authors must be current students at a Canadian law school, or graduating from law school at the time of submission. Students in non-law or graduate programs aren’t eligible.
- Essays must be 5,000 – 10,000 words in length (exclusive of footnotes and bibliography).
Submissions will formally open in spring 2025. Please join the Animal Justice club at your law school to stay in touch about this contest, or reach out to student program lawyer Kip Phillips at [email protected]. We wish you the best of luck with the 2024-25 academic year!
