The CBA Elder Law Section has established an essay contest to encourage law students and young lawyers to participate in the activities of the Section and to promote and reward interest in Canadian elder law topics. The objectives of the contest are to:
- Support scholarly elder law and policy research and writing;
- Encourage the development of law and policy that recognizes the needs and experiences of older people; and
- Encourage lawyers and students working in all areas of legal practice to analyse legal issues in manner that recognizes dynamics related to aging.
CRITERIA AND ELIGIBILITY
The award is presented annually for the best English or French scholarly paper on a subject relating to Canadian elder law, by an individual who is a full-time or a part-time student currently enrolled in a JD or LLB program at a Canadian law school. This includes National Committee on Accreditation candidates enrolled at a Canadian law school. Current articling students in Canada and candidates in the Law Practice Program are also eligible. Lawyers practicing in Canada who are within three years of their call to the Bar as of April 25 are also eligible.
Submission Guidelines:
- Papers must be no more than 30 pages in length, including references (12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced), excluding the title page and bibliography.
- Papers must address a theme of significance in the field of Canadian elder law or public policy.
- Papers must be appropriately referenced; all referencing methods in the legal field will be accepted.
- Papers may be written in English or in French.
- Papers must be researched and written by one author. Papers must be the author’s own original, unpublished work.
- Papers that are submitted for a law school course are eligible, however we encourage candidates to be selective in their submission and only send papers of significant quality.
- The author’s name and identifying information must not appear on the paper itself.
- A brief abstract (max. 150 words) and author biography (max. 150 words) must also be submitted.
- Additional formatting requirements.
PLAGIARISM POLICY
Submissions must not infringe the intellectual property rights of others and must not plagiarize another’s work. Plagiarism is deliberately presenting the ideas, expression of ideas, or work of others as one’s own. Plagiarism includes reproducing or paraphrasing portions of someone else’s published or unpublished material, regardless of the source, and presenting these as one’s own without proper citation or reference to the original source. The CBA reserves the right to assess all submissions for content that potentially infringes on or plagiarizes the work of another and will disqualify any candidate that submits such content.
SELECTION PROCESS
Papers will be evaluated by a jury of 3-5 members, including members on the executive committee. The selection committee may decide not to offer an award in any one year.
AWARD & PRESENTATION
The award consists of a monetary prize of $500 and publication of the winner’s paper on the CBA Elder Law Section webpage.
Deadline for Submissions
April 25
Entries received after the deadline will not be considered.
Contact
CBA Sections
Canadian Bar Association
Phone: (613) 237-2925 or
Toll Free: (800) 267-8860
E-mail: CBAElderLaw@cba.org
AWARD WINNERS
2024: Nahal Golmohammadi: Winning Essay
2023: Sara Haider: Winning Essay