Competition: American College of Employee Benefits Counsel’s fourth annual employee benefits writing competition
THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COUNSEL is pleased to announce the FOURTH ANNUAL EMPLOYEE BENEFITS WRITING COMPETITION
SUBJECT: Any topic in the field of employee benefits law.
OPEN TO: All J.D. and graduate (L.L.M. or S.J.D) law students
SUBMIT BY: May 31, 2008
PRIZES:
-Clarin M. Schwartz Memorial Award $1,500
-Sidney M. Perlstadt Memorial Award $1,500
Each winner will also receive an employee benefits treatise published by BNA Books. If deemed suitable by the editors, one or more of the winning papers will be published by the BNA Pension and Benefits Reporter or in the BNA Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal. The winning papers will also be distributed to the Fellows of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, who are experienced attorneys that have made significant contributions to the advancement of the employee benefits field in a wide range of practice settings including law and consulting firms, universities, labor unions, advocacy organizations and government agencies throughout the United States.
For information concerning the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, contact Peter Kelly atpeter.kelly@bcbsa.com or consult our website at www.acebc.com.
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COUNSEL Writing Competition Rules
1. Eligibility / Topics. Papers written by full or part-time law school students, undergraduate (J.D.) or graduate (L.L.M. or S.J.D.), on any legal topic involving employee benefits are eligible for the Competition. Topics might include issues related to health benefits, pension benefits, 401(k) plans, severance, executive compensation, claims and appeals, spousal and domestic partner benefits, division of benefits in divorce, collectively-bargained benefits, impact of bankruptcy on benefits, benefits litigation and ERISA remedies, fiduciary obligations, taxation of benefits and benefit plans or deductibility of contributions.
a. Papers submitted should not exceed 40 pages (double-spaced, in 12 point type, with an inch margin on each side), not including footnotes. Footnotes should be single spaced starting on a separate page at the end of the document.
b. The text of the paper should not include information identifying the author or law school in the paper.
c. Submissions may include papers prepared for class assignments, law journals or other purposes, as well as those written especially for the Competition.
d. Student papers submitted for publication in law reviews or other law school journals or periodicals but not yet published are eligible for the Competition, provided that (i) the version submitted for the Competition does not reflect any changes made to the paper after submission of the manuscript to any publication and (ii) the College receives any consents necessary to publish.
2. Selection of winners. Winning papers will be selected by the Writing Competition Selection Committee based on, among other factors: (i) depth and creativity of legal analysis; (ii) thoroughness of legal research; (iii) organization and writing style; (iv) difficulty of subject matter; and (v) consideration of labor, tax or other employee benefits policy implications. The determination of the judges’ panel is final. Competition winners will be notified by August 15, 2008.
3. Publication of winning article(s). The College will use its best efforts to arrange for publication of the winning papers in the BNA Pension and Benefits Reporter, the BNA Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal or other professional publications, subject to receiving any necessary consents from the author and any other journal. In addition, the winning papers will be distributed to the Fellows of the College.
4. Prizes. Cash prizes will be awarded for up to two winning paper, based on the worthiness of the submissions. The expectation is that there will be one award for the best JD paper and one for the best graduate paper. The College may, in its discretion, decide to split prizes, to award additional prizes or to award fewer than two awards.
5. Deadline. Papers must be submitted by pdf attachment to an email addressed to peter.kelly@bcbsa. The email should identify the applicant and his or her school and must be received by May 31, 2008.
Questions concerning the Competition should be directed to Peter Kelly, Chair of the ACEBC Writing Competition at peter.kelly@bcbsa.com.