Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest

Chicagoan Jake Crabbs, a law clerk for the Circuit Court of Cook County, is winner of first place and $2,000 in the ISBA’s 2018 Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest. His article, “Who Can Receive Service for a Corporate Defendant?,” appears in the February issue of the Illinois Bar Journal.

Second place winner is Daniel Ritter of Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP in St. Louis, who wrote “Limiting Personal Jurisdiction: The Impact of Tyrrell, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Aspen American,” which also appears in the February IBJ. Daniel won $1,000.

Third place and $500 goes to John Zimmerman, Springfield, for “People v. Kent: The New Standard for Authenticating Social Media Evidence.

Thirty manuscripts were submitted in the 2018 contest, which was sponsored by the ISBA Young Lawyers Division and open to YLD members. Judges were Justice David K. Overstreet of the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District; Judge Diane M. Shelley of Circuit Court of Cook County; Isaac Colunga, a partner in Ice Miller LLP’s business litigation group in Chicago; Barbara Bell, who practices employment law and estate planning in Arlington Heights; and Kathy Sons of Kavanagh Grumley & Gorbold in Joliet.

Dear YLD Member:

You're out in the trenches...you know the hot topics in your field – the new statutes, the important new cases, the legal developments that you and your colleagues grapple with in the real world of lawyering.

We invite you to share your hard-won knowledge, and maybe win $2,000 in prize money by entering the Annual Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest.

We're looking for useful, practical articles on topics important to practicing lawyers. The highest scores will go to manuscripts that Illinois lawyers can use in their practices, written in a no-nonsense, plain-English style.

If you're an ISBA lawyer member under age 36 as of July 1, 2016 or admitted to the bar fewer than five years as of that date, you're eligible to compete for a share of the $3,500 in Lincoln Award prize money and a handsome plaque for your office. And even if you don't win, yours may be among the many Lincoln Award entries to appear in the Illinois Bar Journal.

The deadline for filing a notice to enter the contest is July 15, 2016; use our online form. A brief outline of the article must be submitted on or before August 15, 2016; email the outline to Jean Fenski at jfenski@isba.org. The final deadline for manuscripts is noon Wednesday, September 28, 2016; manuscripts should be emailed by noon to Jean Fenski at jfenski@isba.org.

Jason Hortenstine of Mattoon, an associate at Heller, Holmes & Associates, is the first place winner in the ISBA’s 2015 Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest. Jason received a cash award of $2,000, and his winning article, “A Practitioner’s Guide to the Loss of Chance Doctrine in Illinois,” will appear in the February Illinois Bar Journal. The contest is sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division and open to YLD members.

Second place winner is Sean Brown, Bridgeview, a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney. He wrote “Post-Kladis Issues: The Evolving Illinois Discovery Laws.” Third place goes to John Painter, an associate at Ashman Law Offices, LLC in Chicago, for “Pusher Man: Lawyers Push the Legal and Ethical Limits Representing Marijuana Businesses.” The second place winner got a $1,000 cash prize and the third place winner received $500.

Chicago lawyers Alexandra Lee Newman and Yelena Shagall won first place in the 2012 Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest, sponsored by and open to members of the ISBA Young Lawyers Division. Their article "The 'Cat's Paw' Theory of Employer Liability in the Illinois Federal Courts after Staub v. Proctor Hospital," will appear in the February Illinois Bar Journal.

Second place winner was Nicholas P. Cholis of Chicago, who wrote "After Ervin: How Combined Actions Will Impact Wage and Hour Class Litigation in Illinois." Third place went to Anne M. Skrodzki of Burr Ridge for "Voluntary Dismissal in Multi-Count Complaints:  Application of the Hudson Decision Remains Difficult for Courts and Practitioners."

The first place winners each received $1,000 (splitting the first place prize of $2,000). The second place prize is $1,000 and the third place winner won $500. Plaques will be presented to all four winners at the ISBA Annual Meeting in June.

Twenty-eight manuscripts were submitted in the 2012 contest. The contest judges were Justice Mary W. McDade, Peoria, of the Illinois Appellate Court, Third District; Cook County Judge Mary R. Minella; Professor A. Bryan Endres, Urbana, who teaches agricultural law at the University of Illinois; Brent D. Holmes, a Mattoon lawyer and former IBJ editor-in-chief; and past Lincoln Award winner Travis J. Ketterman, Geneva.