ACREL Writing Award

12/31/25

2

• Student

Open

American College of Real Estate

The ACREL Law Student Writing Award is an annual award given by the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) (https://www.acrel.org/acrel/default.asp) to the author(s) of a student-authored article relating to real property that is published, or accepted for publication, in a scholarly journal sponsored by a law school in the United States. The award is intended to recognize and encourage thoughtful student scholarship and excellent writing in the area of real property law or related topics.

The 2024 award competition is open to persons who are registered students at ABA-accredited law schools in the United States and its territories and possessions as of December 31, 2024. To be eligible to participate in the 2024 competition, as of December 31, 2024, an entrant also must be 21 or over, and a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident of the United States.

ENTRIES: Papers should address a topical issue of interest in real property law or related areas, including, for example, real estate aspects of financing, bankruptcy or environmental law. Papers shall have been published, or accepted for publication, in a scholarly journal sponsored by an ABA-accredited law school in the United States and its territories and possessions within calendar year 2024.
 

ACREL is the preeminent association of commercial real estate lawyers, focused on service to clients, colleagues and the profession. We have established the writing award to recognize and encourage thoughtful student scholarship and excellent writing in the area of real property law or related topics. Additional information about the award is contained in the enclosed materials.

PAPER SPECIFICATIONS:
•Papers must be no fewer than 8,000 words and no more than 25,000 words.
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Unpublished papers must be submitted as a Word file formatted as 8-1/2” x 11”, double-spaced, and using a 12-point font, including cited material and footnotes, and must be accompanied by evidence that the paper has been accepted for publication.
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Published papers may be submitted in the form as published, subject to the redaction requirement below.
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Unpublished papers may not include the author’s name or any references to the author’s identity. Such identifying information must be redacted from a published paper. Author information is to be included on the entry form only.
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Entries must be submitted with a brief (no more than 350 words) abstract.
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Entries must include a separate cover page that lists the title of the paper only.
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Artificial intelligence may not be used in the generation of text included within the paper (use of AI as a research or proofreading tool is acceptable).

ENTRY PROCEDURE: All participants must provide the information required on the submission form. Failure to provide any or all of the required information will result in the entry being ineligible for consideration.

Participants must submit their competition entries, including the paper, in the format described above, and the submission form, by e-mail to Hailey Horch (hhorch@acrel.org). Failure to submit both the paper and the completed submission form will result in the entry being ineligible for consideration.
All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 31, 2025.

Please contact Julie Burgess if you have any questions about the award or need any additional information.