The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation 30th Annual Brown Award
1177 West Loop South, Tenth Floor
Houston, Texas 77027
January 2, 2023
RULES FOR THE 2023 BROWN AWARD of $15,000
FOR EXCELLENCE IN LEGAL WRITING
The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation is pleased to announce the thirtieth annual Brown Award. The Award honors excellence in legal writing in American law schools. Any law student currently enrolled in an accredited law school in the United States seeking a J.D. or LL.B degree is eligible to submit a paper for the Award. The amounts awarded for 2023 will be as follows:
$15,000 First Place,
$7,500 Second Place,
$5,000 Third Place,
$2,500 Finalist,
$2,500 Finalist, and
$5,000 to the Scholarship Fund selected by the Dean of
the law school in which the First-Place candidate is enrolled.
In order to be considered, two copies of a current legal writing must be submitted to the Foundation c/o Kenneth G. Engerrand, Brown Sims, P.C., Tenth Floor, 1177 West Loop South, Houston, Texas 77027-9007. The article must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a law school faculty member or legal professional other than the author of the paper. Only one paper may be submitted on behalf of any student, and only one paper may be sponsored by any faculty member or legal professional. The submission must be postmarked no later than May 31, 2023. Please note the following addresses when forwarding your papers:
For Receipt Prior to April 28, 2023:
1177 West Loop South, Tenth Floor, Houston, Texas 77027
For Receipt After May 1, 2023:
1990 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1700, Houston, Texas 77056
The submission must contain a separate sheet containing the title of the paper; the name, physical address, telephone number, and email address of the student; and the name, title, physical address, and email address of the student’s sponsor. There is no page limitation or restriction on the topic except that the writing must be on a legal subject. Papers that have been submitted to a law review for publication are eligible, but the submission must be of the paper in its form before it was edited by anyone other than the author.
The Foundation will appoint a final judging panel consisting of a law school dean, a federal judge, and a law school professor. The Foundation will not return any material submitted to the Foundation. The 2023 recipient of the Brown Award will be notified by December 30, 2023, and listed with the other finalists at the website www.brownsims.com/about-brown-sims/affiliations/judge-john-r-brown-award/.
The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation is pleased to announce the winners for the 2022 Brown Award for Excellence in Legal Writing.
First Place:
Arbitration Prime: Amazon’s Utility Patent Evaluation Process and Its Influence on the Private Resolution of Patent Disputes by Samantha J. Thompson, Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University, sponsored by Adjunct Professor Martin McKown, Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University ($10,000 award); an award of $5,000 will be made to the scholarship fund designated by the Dean of The Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.
Second Place:
The Common Law of Interpretation by Christopher J. Baldacci, University of Virginia School of Law, recommended by Professor Richard M. Re, University of Virginia School of Law ($5,000 award).
Third Place:
The Impact of Foresight: Reframing Discriminatory Intent to Properly Remedy Environmental Racism by Kirsten Williams, University of Houston Law Center, recommended by Professor Whitney Werich Heard, University of Houston Law Center ($3,000 award).
Finalists:
Pluralism Boundaries When Rights Clash in the Culture Wars by Jessica Wollum, Wake Forest University School of Law, recommended by Professor Brenda Gibson, Wake Forest University School of Law ($1,000 award);
“Walling Off” Privacy: Apple’s CSAM-Targeting Safety Features, ECPA, the Fourth Amendment, and Encryption by Gabriel J. Rudin, University of Colorado Law School, recommended by Professor Benjamin Levin, University of Colorado Law School ($1,000 award).
Kenneth G. Engerrand
President, The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation
