The Legal History and Rare Books Section (LH&RB) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), in cooperation with Gale, part of Cengage Learning, announces the seventh annual Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition. The competition is named in honor of Morris L. Cohen, late Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School. Professor Cohen was a leading scholar in the fields of legal research, rare law books, and historical bibliography. The purpose of the competition is to encourage scholarship in the areas of legal history, rare law books, and legal archives, and to acquaint students with the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and law librarianship.

Students currently enrolled in accredited graduate programs in library science, law, history, or related fields are eligible to enter the competition. Both full- and part-time students are eligible. Membership in AALL is not required.

Essays may be on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives. Please submit only one essay; additional submissions will not be considered. The entry form & instructions are available at the LH&RB website. Entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m., March 16, 2015 (EST).

The winner will receive a $500.00 prize from Cengage Learning and up to $1,000 for expenses associated with attendance at the AALL Annual Meeting. The runner-up will have the opportunity to publish the second place essay in LH&RB’s online scholarly journal, Unbound: An Annual Review of Legal History and Rare Books.

Please direct questions to Marguerite Most at most@law.duke.edu or Tim Kearley at TKearley@uwyo.edu.