The Paper Chase Legal Writing Competition
Baylor Law is pleased to announce the Seventh Annual The Paper Chase Legal Writing Competition—Texas’s premier legal writing competition!
Winners receive bragging rights and cash prizes, sponsored by FVF Law, totaling $7,000.
Open to J.D. students at any of the nine non-Baylor law schools in Texas, The Paper Chase is a practice-oriented writing competition designed to test law students’ analytical and legal writing skills. The high-stakes tournament stands out for its significant cash prize award of $5,000 to the competition winner and its challenging, real-world writing problem adapted from actual case files.
“The Paper Chase gives Texas law students the opportunity to showcase their skills in a one-of-a-kind legal writing competition. Baylor Law’s legal writing department has worked to develop a challenging yet intriguing problem, and we are confident competitors will enjoy the experience," stated Interim Associate Dean and Director of Baylor Law's Legal Writing Program, Matt Cordon.
"We deeply appreciate FVF Law’s generous support, which has allowed us to build the Paper Chase during the past several years. We are looking forward to partnering with TYLA once again to judge the competition.”
Baylor Law hosts the competition supported by the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA). TYLA members are the sole judges of the anonymized entries, while FVF Law generously sponsors the competition’s prizes. Students at all Texas law schools (except Baylor) are eligible to participate. Interested students should visit their school’s Legal Writing department for more information.
The Paper Chase entrants should register by completing the 2023 Declaration of Intent to Enter by October 18, 2023. On October 20th, Baylor Law’s legal writing department will circulate this year’s problem and submission instructions. Entries are due to the legal writing department at the competitors’ schools by October 27, 2023. Baylor Law will then anonymize and forward entries to select TYLA members for judging. The 2023 Paper Chase winners will be announced on a To-Be-Determined date.
2023 Competition Details:
October 18, 2023
Registration deadline
October 20, 2023
Baylor Law circulates the problem and submission instructions
October 27, 2023
All entries are due to the legal writing department at the competitors’ schools
TBD
Winners are announced
2023 Declaration of Intent to Enter:
Declaration of Intent to Enter – Microsoft Forms
2023 Competition Documents:
Paper Chase 2023 Rules (Coming Soon)
Paper Chase 2023 School Cover Sheet to Submit Entries (Coming Soon)
Paper Chase 2023 Student Certification (Coming Soon)
Paper Chase 2023 Student Entry Cover Sheet (Coming Soon)
Paper Chase 2023 Student Publicity Release (Coming Soon)
Students interested in participating should speak with the legal writing department at their respective law schools.
For questions, please contact paperchase@baylor.edu.
The Paper Chase Legal Writing Competition is sponsored by the litigation law firm of FVF Law | Fogelman & Von Flatern.
Josh Fogelman and Aaron von Flatern, both Baylor Law grads, worked together at a small litigation firm in Austin, where they successfully handled a variety of complex cases and developed a close friendship. Working together, Josh and Aaron recognized they shared the same values about personal injury law: that people whose lives have been unexpectedly disrupted should be treated with respect and transparency and given the best opportunity to pick up the pieces and move forward. So, in 2014, Josh and Aaron founded FVF with the mission of educating injured Texans so they can better understand their options and make informed decisions. By undertaking this mission one person at a time, it is their ultimate goal to change how the public perceives personal injury lawyers and instill trust back into this area of practice.