Prize Submission Instructions

Submission Process

  1. The 2025-2026 HLS Student Writing Prizes submission window will open on March 5, 2026.
  2. To submit a paper for prize consideration, complete the online HLS Student Writing Prize Submission Form.
  3. All writing prize submissions must receive faculty nomination. Students must include a signed HLS Student Writing Prize Nomination Form with their Submission Form.
  4. Submissions for the following prizes are NOT collected by the Writing Center and must be submitted in accord with the process noted below:
    • Yong K. Kim ’95 Memorial Prize: Please submit one electronic copy of your paper via email to Deborah Han. Please do not remove your name from your paper submitted for the Yong K. Kim ’95 Memorial Prize.
    • John M. Olin Prize in Law and Economics: This is a $2,000 prize awarded for an outstanding paper written by an HLS student analyzing a legal topic from an economic perspective. Prior to submitting a paper for consideration, a student must request that the professor under whom the paper was written email a statement of evaluation of the paper directly to Professor Steven Shavell by the deadline below.  Upon fulfillment of that requirement, the paper should be submitted by email to Matthew Hunt, Program Administrator, by midnight on Friday, April 24, 2026. The prize is generally awarded in May.  For further information, please contact Matthew Hunt.

Submission Deadlines

  1. The deadline for prize submissions is 5:00 pm ET on April 24, 2026 unless otherwise noted below.
  2. There will be NO deadline extensions.
  3. There are special deadlines for the following prizes:
    • The Klemens von Klemperer Prize: 5:00pm ET on Monday, March 31, 2025.
    • The John M. Olin Prize in Law and Economics: Midnight on Friday, April 25, 2025.

Paper Requirements

  1. Only papers submitted by current HLS degree candidates (J.D., LL.M., or S.J.D. ) enrolled during the 2025-2026 academic year will be considered for 2026 student writing prizes. Submissions by cross-registrants, Berkeley Exchange students, and students visiting HLS are not eligible.
  2. Papers must have been written and completed while enrolled at HLS and for an HLS course or clinic taught by an HLS faculty member / appointed instructor or under independent supervision of an HLS faculty member / appointed instructor.
  3. Co-authored papers are eligible for submission, but all co-authors must have been HLS degree candidate when the paper was written and enrolled during the 2025-2026 academic year. Each co-author should submit a copy of the eligible paper with their own prize submission form and indicate “(co-authored)” after their paper title in the paper title field on the submission form.
  4. Papers that have been edited by others in preparation for submission to a journal or other publication may not be submitted for a student writing prize in that edited form. Such papers may be considered for writing prizes only if an original, unedited version of the paper is available and submitted
  5. Only one paper may be submitted for one writing prize per submission form. If you would like to submit the same paper for a second writing prize, complete a separate submission form. If you would like to submit a second paper for a prize, complete a separate submission form.
  6. Students may submit multiple papers. They may submit the same paper for no more than two writing prizes, unless otherwise noted in the prize description . Each paper is eligible to win only one of the prizes for which it is submitted. This rule applies to winning papers submitted in a prior prize year.
  7. Papers must be anonymized: remove your name from the paper itself.
  8. Please save and upload your paper as a PDF file with the file naming convention: “Last name_Paper title“. Please do NOT submit your paper as a Word document file.

Winning Papers

  1. The name and paper title of all prize winners will be published on the HLS Website by June 1, 2026.
  2. The names of graduating prize winners and prizes won will be listed in the Commencement Program. Please note: non-graduating prize winners’ names will be listed in the Commencement Program in the year they graduate.
  3. Students may self-submit prize-winning papers to the School’s DASH student-paper repository.
  4. If a prize has more than one winner, the prize monetary award will be divided among the prize recipients.

For questions about HLS Student Writing Prizes, email AcademicPrograms@law.harvard.edu.

Any award is subject to the constraints of federal immigration law.