1. The competition is open to law students in good-standing who were enrolled in an ABA accredited law school during calendar year 2012.
2. Papers should address a topical issue of interest to the construction industry.
3. All authors must certify that all work submitted is the author's work product without substantial editing by others.
4. Papers prepared for law school credit are eligible for entry in the competition. Articles prepared for law review, or publication elsewhere, are eligible for the competition. Joint papers are not acceptable.
5. If the Forum wishes to publish the winning article or articles in its various publications and the article has already been published or is planned for publication, the Forum will publish it as well if the other publication provides its consent.
6. The format of the articles must conform to either of the Forum's two publications, The Construction Lawyer (law journal format) or Under Construction (newsletter format with articles of 1000-2000 words). Format guidelines for The Construction Lawyer are posted on the Forum's website.
7. Articles must be in Microsoft Word format.
8. Article must conform to the Harvard Bluebook citation style.
9. The following information must be presented on the title page: title; author's name; address, telephone number, email address; and law school.
10. Articles must be submitted by e-mail to the following:

Bridget Miller, American Bar Association (Bridget.Miller@americanbar.org), and
Marilyn Klinger, Sedgwick LLP (marilyn.klinger@sedgwicklaw.com).

11. All entries must be emailed by December 31, 2012. Winners will be selected and notified in March 2013.
12. The author of the first place submittal will receive a cash prize of $2,000; travel expenses and registration to attend the 2013 annual meeting of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry in Dana Point, California, where a first prize plaque will be presented; a one-year membership in the Forum and recognition in the Forum newsletter, Under Construction, and on the Forum's website. One or more authors may be determined a finalist and recognized with a plaque.
13. An impartial panel will judge the entries. Criteria for selection include creativity, clarity and precision of writing, strength of argument, novelty of subject, and quality of research.