The 2018 Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Ethics and Professionalism Essay Competition, sponsored by AmericanLawRadio.com and Malik Law is open to all full and part-time students attending an ABA-accredit law school and enrolled in a JD or LLM program. The first-place winner will receive $1,500.00. The winning essay may be published in the CMBA’s Bar Journal. The second-place winner will receive $1,000.00.
The topic for the 2018 competition is:
The Ohio Bar Examination application requires an applicant to provide information regarding the applicant’s criminal convictions and expungements. (See Gov. Bar. R.I., Sec. 11(D).) In college, an applicant was convicted of a crime. On appeal, the Supreme Court found that the statute under which the applicant was convicted violated the constitutional right to free speech (e.g., protesting an elected official) and overturned the conviction. Is the applicant required to disclose the overturned conviction on the Bar Examination application? Why or why not?
Essays should be no more than 1600 words and will be electronically submitted in Word. The deadline for submissions is February 9, 2018. Winners will be announced no later than April 20, 2018.
The goal of the Competition is to encourage students to examine ethical issues that they may encounter over the next few years of their legal professions. This goal complements the legal education accreditation standards of the American Bar Association. These standards include the promotion of competency in the exercise of proper professional and ethical responsibilities to clients and the legal system, along with the development of other professional skills needed for competent and ethical participation as a member of the legal profession. ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools 2016-2017, Standard 302.
For more information, including rules and submission forms, please go to www.clementrobar.org/essay and follow the link for the Competition. You may also contact the Competition’s director, Tom Horwitz, at 440-892-3331 or by email at tmh@horwitzlpa.com.