Overview

• Eligibility: Only students currently enrolled in a JD program at an ABA-accredited U.S. law school and 2026 academic year graduates are eligible.
• Judges: A committee comprised of FDLI members who are practicing attorneys and law professors.
• Winners: Top papers will receive a monetary award, recognition on FDLI's website, and access to FDLI's virtual programming for one year.
• Submission: Papers must be submitted on our online portal. Only papers meeting the specified guidelines will be considered. 
• Deadline: Portal closes 11:59 PM ET on June 1, 2026.

Specific Guidelines

• Students should register for submission in our online competition portal; all papers must be submitted within the portal.
• Paper topics are limited to FDA and regulated agencies' laws and regulations. Topical focus should be on FDA-regulated industries: food, drugs, animal drugs, biologics, cosmetics, diagnostics, dietary supplements, medical devices, veterinary devices, cannabis, or tobacco. 
• Students must submit an abstract.
• No author identifying information may be included in the uploaded paper. The author’s name should be shared only when registering.
• Papers shall not exceed 100 pages (assuming double spacing, one-inch margins).
• Papers must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM ET on June 1, 2026.

Judging Considerations:

• Thoroughness and depth of legal analysis
• Originality and difficulty of topic
• Evaluation of judicial precedents, statutes, and regulations
• Quality of thesis/argument
• Quality of legal research
• Writing style
• Conciseness; quality will be valued over quantity
• Form and quality of citations
• Conformity with requirements of competition

Topics:

Papers should provide an in-depth analysis of a current legal issue concerning food, drugs, animal drugs, biologics, cosmetics, diagnostics, dietary supplements, medical devices, veterinary devices, cannabis, or tobacco. FDLI welcomes the submission of papers prepared for course work, but entrants must pay attention to competition details and edit such papers accordingly.

NOTE:

All authors must individually meet these eligibility requirements. We do accept submissions that have been submitted to other writing contests. However, articles must be unpublished at the time of judging in order to remain in consideration for the competition. Articles that have been accepted for forthcoming publication will still be eligible for placement in the competition. Published papers will be disqualified from the Austern Writing Competition.

Noncompliance with these requirements will affect evaluation and may result in disqualification