Essay Competitions

An Essay Competition is a legal writing competition, with the goal to determine which of the received essay is the best. This is done through a review process, which is conducted by a panel of judges, usually composed of academics and/or legal practitioners. 

There are three main stages in each Essay Competition:

What is considered an essay?

An essay is a short piece of academic writing addressing a defined research question. The structure of an essay consists of an introduction, body and conclusion. Depending on the typing of the essay, its form and style might vary, but the main structure stays the same through these variations. 

Generally speaking, there are 4 main types of essays: 

1. Narrative - In a narrative essay, the writer tells a story, usually about a personal, real-life experience. The format in which it is written is usually the main difference between a narrative essay and a short story and it usually builds toward making a statement. 

2. Descriptive - A descriptive essay aims at giving a description of the characteristics of an object. Essays written in this manner usually communicate a deeper meaning through the description - the author appeals to the reader’s emotions by focusing on details. 

3. Expository - Expository essays compare, explore and discuss the topic on which they are written. Their main purpose is to inform the reader by presenting an analysis of the topic. Expository essays are written in an objective manner and the author restrains from using their personal feelings, while the aim is precisely presenting the facts. 

4. Argumentative - In an argumentative essay, the writer examines the validity or falsity of the topic on which the essay is written. The author uses evidence, statistics or the opinion of experts to support their claims while arguing the taken position with data. A well written argumentative essay is written in an analytical manner and its structure is built around a thesis or a statement and its main goal is to, by presenting data and arguments, convince the reader to accept the writer’s point of view. This type of essays can differ from the classic structure which was presented earlier by introducing a part which presents opposing arguments and weighing in the favour of stronger arguments. 

When conducting legal writing, authors should be writing in the expository or argumentative style.