Ross Essay Contest

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The Fine Print

Eligible. You are eligible to enter the Legal Rebels Ross Essay Contest if you are an ABA member in good standing now and through Oct. 26, 2012.

Not Eligible. The following ABA members are ineligible to enter the Legal Rebels Ross Essay Contest: ABA staff members, relatives of ABA Journal staff members, members of the ABA Journal Board of Editors and their relatives, freelancers who have been paid by the ABA Journal for any work since Jan. 1, 2012.

Prize. Winners will share $5,000 in prize money. The Legal Rebels Ross Essay Contest allows for more than one winner. Joint submissions are not permitted.

Submissions. Entrants may submit up to five unpublished haiku that have not been submitted for publication or to any other contest. Publication is defined as an appearance in a printed book, magazine or journal (sold or given away), or in any online journal that presents edited periodic content. The appearance of poems in online discussion lists or personal websites is not considered publication. Judges will be asked to disqualify any haiku that they have seen before. All entries must be submitted electronically to the ABA Journal using the form and instructions available at LegalRebels.com. Entries will not be accepted by any other means. Use the form to include the entrant’s name, address, e-mail address and ABA member ID number. Once an entry is submitted, no changes may be made.

Entry Deadline. The deadline for receipt of entries is 5 p.m. Central time on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Entries received later will not be accepted.

Publication. Winning entries in the Legal Rebels Ross Essay Contest may be published at LegalRebels.com and in the ABA Journal's weekly newsletter. Other entries may be considered for publication on LegalRebels.com. The decision whether to publish any entry is made by the editor and publisher. For purposes of publication, the ABA Journal may edit entries (the edited version will not be used for judging). By submitting an entry in this contest, each entrant gives the ABA all rights, including express permission to edit and publish the entry in all media without limitation and without any other notice.

Topics. Each entry must address one of the following topics: Innovation, Inspiration, Law Practice, On Being a Lawyer, the U.S. Supreme Court.

Length. Each haiku entered must contain only 17 syllables in the form of 5-7-5. Each eligible ABA member may submit five entries to this contest.

Disputes. The editor and publisher of the ABA Journal will be the final arbiter of all questions regarding entries, judging, interpretation of the rules and any other aspect of the Legal Rebels Ross Essay Contest.