Apply for the 2026 Brown Award for Excellence in Legal Writing

The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation is pleased to present the 2026 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.

Award Amounts

1

2

$15,000

First Place

$7,500

Second Place

3

4

$5,000

Third Place

$2,500

Finalist (2)

$5,000

Awarded to a scholarship fund selected by the dean of the law school in which the first place candidate is enrolled.

Rules for the 2026 Brown Award For Excellence in Legal Writing

In order to be considered you must include:

1.) Two copies of a current legal writing that will be submitted to the Foundation c/o Kenneth G. Engerrand, Brown Sims, P.C., 1990 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1800, Houston, Texas 77056.

2.) 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 29, 2026.

3.) The submission must contain a separate sheet containing:

  • Title of the paper

  • Student’s name

  • Physical address

  • Telephone number and email address of the student

  • Name of the student’s law school

  • 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 2026 recipient of the Brown Award will be notified by December 31, 2026, and listed with the other finalists on this website.