An essay that doesn't win a prize is nevertheless the contestant's best legal writing to date, surely a much better example than would be a memo or brief required for Lawyering Skills, which are more learning experiences than completed demonstrations of skill. That the prize is usually an attractive amount of cash is worth mention, but more important is the prestige of winning a competitive event and of gaining publication in a journal . Most essay contests are sponsored by bar groups and judged by panels of practicing lawyers or sitting judges, not professors. The essays are judged only against one another, so the judgment is about relative excellence, that is, about excellence in a year group or potential job applicant pool. The judging is by potential employers.
Publication often comes in a journal edited by lawyers rather than students.
Writing for an essay contest is not an opportunity reserved only for the elite of your class. As you can confirm by polling your own circle of friends, most students think they have enough to do already, so that not many take on the lonely and additional work of preparing an essay for contest submission. This means that essay contests do not, normally, attract large numbers of entries. Moreover, the contests which set a larger number of pages or words as their limit attract fewer applicants than the contests which imply a preference for shorter essays. A few contests recognize the best essay submitted from each law school.