ILBF law undergraduate essay competition 2025

The ILBF’s essay competition 2025, open to all undergraduates studying law at UK universities, is sponsored by international firm Brown Rudnick. The prize for the winning entry will be a week’s work experience with Brown Rudnick in the summer of 2025.

The competition will be launched on 6^th January 2025 at 4pm by The Rt. Hon. the Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales.

Tune in to the launch to find out about the topic for this year’s competition, the question to be answered and how to enter.

Follow the ILBF on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and YouTube for regular updates, more details about the competition and how to enter, as well as short films to inspire you to take part.

Key dates

• 6 January 2025 at 4pm: Launch of competition by The Rt. Hon. the Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales
• February 2025: Online panel discussion with experts from across the legal profession discussing the topic of this year’s question, hosted by LexisNexis
• 22 April 2025 at 4pm: Deadline for submissions
• 14 May 2025: The winner will be announced at the ILBF’s 20^th anniversary event

Prizes

Finalists

The finalists will be invited to the ILBF’s 20^th anniversary event on 14^th May in London when the winner will be announced.

Winner

• A week’s internship in summer 2025 at Brown Rudnick
• Publication of the winning essay in the Commonwealth Lawyers Association newsletter
• Publication of the winning essay on the ILBF’s website

Runner up

• The runner up essay will be published on the ILBF website

All entries

The ideas and insights from all entrants will be compiled into a grand summary to be shared on the ILBF website and with legal media, to help stimulate debate around the essay topic.

Competition judges

• The Rt. Hon. Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Patron of and driving force behind the ILBF
• The Rt. Hon. Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill CVO, former Supreme Court Justice, and founding member of the EU Forum of Judges for the Environment, and of the Global Institute of Judges on the Environment
• Yasmin Batliwala MBE, Chief Executive of Advocates for International Development: A4ID

Competition Judging Team

• Jane Colston, Brown Rudnick, ILBF Trustee
• Mark Stephens CBE, Howard Kennedy, ILBF Trustee
• Sophia Dirir, Head of Legal, Cancer Research UK, ILBF trustee
• Dr Tawanda Hondora, Head, Rule of Law, Governance and Peace Directorate at the Commonwealth Secretariat, ILBF trustee
• Maryann McMahon, JUSTICE Council Member, ILBF Trustee
• Fernanda Pirie, Professor of the Anthropology of Law, University of Oxford
• Katrina Crossley, Chief Executive of the ILBF
• Ellen Lake, Rio Tinto, ILBF Operating Committee
• Chiara Iorizzo, Skadden
• Goviintha Krishnan, President, The United Kingdom & Eire Malaysian Law Students’ Union

The ILBF supports the rule of law and access to justice for all through sharing legal knowledge. Since the charity’s foundation in 2005, the ILBF has distributed over 92,000 legal textbooks to more than 280 organisations in 61 countries. Our books support law students, teachers, lawyers and judges across the world.