UniCourt Legal Research & Writing Competition

Competition Deadline: February 19, 2023

As a legal technology company dedicated to making legal data more accessible and useful for all, UniCourt has committed considerable resources to publishing millions of court cases online for free and producing easy to read, detailed case summaries of trending litigation and cases from critical practice areas.

The UniCourt Legal Research & Writing Competition (LRW Competition) carries forward our mission to improve access to the law through seeking submissions of informative case summaries to be published online and made publicly available for all to read.

Eligibility

In order to participate in the LRW Competition, entrants must (1) be a current law student at an ABA accredited law school, (2) be at least 21 years old, and (3) be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident.

Topic

Entrants must summarize the complaint of a federal U.S. District Court court case falling within one of the following five practice areas: (1) Antitrust, (2) Privacy & Cybersecurity, (3) Intellectual Property, (4) Securities & White Collar Defense, or (5) Cryptocurrency & Blockchain.
Entrants may summarize any complaint falling within one of the five practice areas, and are also welcome to summarize the following sample complaints:
1. Antitrust
  1. Mickelson et al v. PGA Tour, Inc.
  2. Smart et al v. National Collegiate Athletic Association
2. Privacy & Cybersecurity
  1. Austin Recht et al v. TikTok Inc. et al
  2. Willis et al v. Meta Platforms, Inc.
3. Intellectual Property
  1. ModernaTX, Inc. et al v. Pfizer Inc. et al
  2. Netflix Worldwide Entertainment, LLC et al. v. Barlow et al.
4. Securities & White Collar Defense
  1. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Bankman-Fried
  2. USA v. Holmes et al.
5. Cryptocurrency & Blockchain
  1. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple Labs Inc. et al.
  2. Johnson v. Musk et al

Submission Requirements

Entrants may make multiple submissions, but only one submission per practice area.
Submissions may not exceed 1000 words and should include an (1) introductory paragraph with the names of the parties, attorneys, law firms, and judges involved, (2) body paragraphs summarizing the allegations and facts, (3) the specific claims and connected statutes, and (4) the prayer for relief.
No bluebooking is required, and no in-line citations or footnotes should be included.

Entry Deadline

All entries must be submitted by February 19, 2023, 11:59 pm Pacific Time.

Selection and Notification of Winners

The entries will be judged by the UniCourt Legal News team, including the Editor-In-Chief and Associate Editor. Entries will be judged based on the following criteria: clarity of the case summary, significance of the case, manner in which the topic is treated, organization, quality of analysis, quality of research, authority, and quality of grammar, syntax, and form. Winners will be notified by email by March 10, 2023, 11:59 pm Pacific Time.

Odds of Winning

Chances of winning may vary depending on the number of entries. However, UniCourt reserves the right not to award any prize if the judges determine that no entries are of sufficient quality to merit selection that year.

Awards

Winners of the LRW Competition will have their case summary published on the UniCourt Legal News Page, UniCourt’s Blog, and receive social media promotion.
Winners from each of the five practice areas will be interviewed and have their interview published on UniCourt’s Blog, and receive social media promotion.
Winners from each of the five practice areas will be considered for a paid internship within the UniCourt Legal News team.

Contact Information

Please provide the following information:

First Name *

Middle Name

Last Name *

Address Line 1 *

Address Line 2

City *

State *

Postal Code *

Country *

Email *

Confirm Email *

Phone Number *

Confirm Phone Number *

Case Summary *

Case Name *

Case Number *

UniCourt Legal Research & Writing Competition Agreement

UniCourt, Inc., a California corporation (“UniCourt”) is pleased to offer You (“You” also “Contributor”) the opportunity to submit for publication various case summaries (“Contribution(s)”) to be included in forthcoming publications on www.unicourt.com/ (“Website”) as a part of this UniCourt Legal Research & Writing Competition Agreement (“Agreement”).

GRANT OF RIGHTS:

By entering, the Contributor consents to the publication of their entry by UniCourt, understands that such publication is not guaranteed, and grants UniCourt the following rights: (1) the exclusive worldwide right of first publication of their entry in any and all UniCourt media or form of communication; (2) the non-exclusive worldwide right, in UniCourt’s sole discretion, to use, transcribe, publish reproduce, distribute, sell (as part of an UniCourt publication) or display the entry, alone or in conjunction with other materials; (3) the right to edit the case summary to conform to the publication’s standards of style, technological requirements, language, grammar and punctuation, provided the meaning of the case summary is not materially altered; and (4) the non-exclusive worldwide right to use the Contributor’s name and likeness in connection with the case summary Contributions or this LRW Competition, in each case, without compensation. By entering, the Contributor warrants that their entry is original and not subject to any third party copyright; that publication of the entry will not libel anyone or infringe on or invade the rights of others; and that the entry has not been published elsewhere in whole or in part.

GOVERNING LAW.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflicts of laws principles. UniCourt and Contributor hereby irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Orange County, California, in any action arising out of or relating to this Agreement, and waive any other venue to which UniCourt or Contributor may be entitled by domicile or otherwise.

ENTIRE AGREEMENT.

This Agreement expresses the full and complete understanding of UniCourt and Contributor with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous proposals, agreements, representations and understandings, whether written or oral, with respect to the subject matter between UniCourt and Contributor, their respective shareholders, officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors. This Agreement shall not limit any rights that either UniCourt or Contributor may have under trade secret, copyright, patent or other laws that may be available. This Agreement may not be modified or amended except by a writing that explicitly refers to the amendment of this Agreement, and is signed by authorized representatives of both UniCourt and Contributor.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE COMPANY AND CONTRIBUTOR.

None of the provisions of this Agreement is intended to create nor shall be deemed or construed to create any relationship between UniCourt and Contributor other than that of independent entities contracting with each other hereunder solely for the purpose of effecting the provisions of this Agreement. Neither UniCourt or Contributor, nor any of their respective employees, agents or contractors, shall be construed to be the agent, employer, or representative of the other, nor shall either UniCourt or Contributor have an express or implied right to assume or create any obligation or responsibility on behalf of or in the name of the other Party.

NO OBLIGATION TO PUBLISH.

Nothing herein shall obligate UniCourt to publish the Contribution(s) in the website, however, if UniCourt does not publish the Contribution(s) by December 31, 2023, then all rights granted in the Contribution(s) will automatically revert back to Contributor.

RELEASE.

By participating, each Contributor agrees to the terms of this Agreement and the decisions of UniCourt, and releases and discharges UniCourt, its subsidiaries and affiliated entities, and each of their respective officers, directors, members, employees, independent contractors, agents, representatives, successors and assigns from any and all liability whatsoever in connection with this Legal Research & Writing Competition, including, without limitation, legal claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages, demands or actions of any kind (including, without limitation, personal injuries, death, damage to, loss or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation, or portrayal in a false light) (collectively, “Claims”). Except where prohibited, acceptance of a prize constitutes a release by any Contributor of UniCourt of any and all Claims in connection with the administration of this Legal Research & Writing Competition and the use, misuse or possession of any prize. UniCourt is not responsible for errors or for lost, late, or misdirected mail or email, or telecommunication or hardware or software failures, including by reason of any bug or computer virus or other failure. UniCourt may cancel, modify or terminate this Legal Research & Writing Competition if it is not capable of completion as planned, including by reason of infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, force majeure or technical difficulties of any kind.

If the foregoing terms are satisfactory, please sign this Agreement by clicking the “Submit” button below.

I understand and agree to the following: I agree to UniCourt’s General Disclaimer, Terms of Service, Cancellation and Refund Policy, Privacy Policy, and Public Records Policy. I AGREE TO THE UNICOURT LEGAL RESEARCH & WRITING COMPETITION AGREEMENT AND I CERTIFY THAT ALL THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IS TRUE AND ACCURATE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.