Thomas Jefferson School of Law Dean Thomas Guernsey announced the results of the First Annual Jameson Crane III Disability and the Law Writing Competition. “We were gratified to have received 27 submissions for the competition,” said Dean Guernsey. “The competition was keen.”
The first place prize was awarded to Margaret Condit, a J.D. candidate from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, for her paper titled Remember the IDEA: A Call for Courts to Apply a Piecemeal Approach to Transition Litigation. The first place winner will receive a $1,500 cash prize.
There were two second place prizes awarded. One second prize went to Ruth Hocker, a J.D. candidate at William and Mary Law School, for her paper More than a Consolation Prize: Using Section 504 to Advance Special Education Rights. The other second prize went to Doron Dorfman, a J.S.D. candidate at Stanford Law School, for his paper Conflicts between Private and State Disability Identities: Perceptions of the Procedural Justice of the Disability Determination Process. Each second place winner will receive $1,000.
Submissions were judged anonymously in two rounds. “Our panel of judges was comprised of three law professors who are noted scholars in disability law and a lawyer who is active in organizations serving those with disabilities,” said Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp, who coordinates the competition. “The judges were very impressed with the quality of the submissions.” The Thomas Jefferson Law Review will consider all the winning submissions for publication.
Made possible by the generous gift of Thomas Jefferson alumnus Jim Crane ’13 and his family, the national competition aims to encourage outstanding student scholarship at the intersection of law and medicine, or law and the social sciences. Open to currently enrolled U.S. law students, medical students, and doctoral candidates in related fields, the competition promotes understanding of legal issues related to disability, furthers the development of legal rights and protections, and improves the lives of those with disabilities.
“The Crane competition demonstrates our law school’s commitment to excellence in legal and policy analysis for underserved populations,” said Dean Guernsey. “Improving life for the disabled requires changing attitudes and assumptions. Our hope is that the Crane competition will provide a forum for such change,” he noted.
