White River Environmental Law Competition: Accepting Submissions Now!
The White River Writing Competition, sponsored by VJEL and Vermont Law and Graduate School, is an annual writing competition that seeks law students with a passion for environmental law to illuminate creative solutions to current legal frameworks at the local, state, federal, and international levels. The competition, named after the White River that flows through VJEL’s home in South Royalton, Vermont, embraces the broad view of environmental law, just as the river brings the local community together, flowing through the state of Vermont, until finally connecting to a larger river system progressing through many other states to ultimately reach the Atlantic Ocean. Please see below for competition details.
2026 Submission Requirements
Any article that explores a legal environmental topic is generally eligible. Topics generally include environmental law, natural resource law, energy law, environmental justice, land use law, animal law, and agricultural law. For examples of Articles VJEL looks for, please see our Publications Page. All students currently within an ABA-accredited JD or LLM program are encouraged to apply. All submissions must:
- Address a relevant topic in environmental law
- Be in a Word format and around 20-30 double-spaced pages in length
- Contain accurate Bluebook citations in footnote form
- Adhere to standard conventions of American grammar and spelling
- Display original work and research that has not been previously published
All submissions must be emailed to LawReview@vermontlaw.edu with the subject line: “White River Writing Competition Submission” by 5:00 PM EST on Friday, March 27, 2026. Submissions must not have been previously published or accepted publication offers in any media. A committee comprised of members of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law Vol. 27 and Vol. 28 Senior Editorial Boards will anonymously choose one submission to be the White River Writing Competition winner. The winning author will receive a $1,000 cash prize. At the discretion of the Vol. 28 Editor-in-Chief and VJEL Senior Articles Editor, Vermont Journal of Environmental Law has the right to publish the winning paper in the forthcoming volume. If not selected, the author may seek publication elsewhere.
The submission must include a cover page that includes your name, address, phone number, email address, law school, and year of graduation to ensure anonymity and impartiality for the judging process. Do not include your name or any other personal information in any other part of your submission.
Current VLGS Law Review Staff Editor Notes are not eligible for submission. However, Staff Editors may submit works other than their Note. Senior Staff may apply with their Note or any other work. Any questions regarding the Competition may be directed to Editor-in-Chief GraceHeadrick@vermontlaw.edu or Senior Articles Editor GraceCunningham@vermontlaw.edu. For general questions about VJEL, please visit our website at https://vjel.vermontlaw.edu/.
All of us at the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law look forward to reading your submissions!