“Would a federal law targeting consumer product advertising
violate the First Amendment?”

Proposed legislation (H.R. 2966) would prohibit pharmaceutical companies from deducting advertising costs as an ordinary and necessary business expense. Discuss the merits of the proposal, the policy goals being sought and the constitutional implications of the ban. As part of your constitutional analysis, please include thoughts on the value of commercial speech in free enterprise and its value for speakers and the receivers (i.e. consumers) of the information.

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Eligibility. Any law student enrolled in a part-time or full-time J.D. program from an ABA accredited law school may participate.

Length. Essays should contain no more than 1200 words, not including citations, title, and cover page information. (Papers exceeding 1200 words will not be read.) There is no minimum word requirement.

Format. Essays should be typed in Times New Roman, size 12 font, and double-spaced on 8 ½ x 11 paper. Essays should be saved as Microsoft Word documents or PDFs.

Submission. No student may submit more than one essay. Papers cannot be jointly authored.

Cover Page. The author's information should ONLY appear on the cover page (the body of the essay cannot include the author's information for fair judging purposes).

Please use the following format:

Citations. Citations must be in footnote format and be in accordance with the rules of The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation, Eighteenth Edition.

Due Date. Essays must be submitted electronically by 5:00 PM EST on Monday, November 16, 2009 to contest@wlf.org. You will receive an automatic receipt of confirmation upon completion.

Judges. Essays will be scored separately by law professors, practicing attorneys at prominent law firms, and members of WLF's Legal Studies and Litigation Divisions.

Scoring. The following criteria will be considered when grading the essay:

• Presents a clear, precise, well-written paper and a high quality of citations
• Delivers the requisite substantive information
• Accurately analyzes the relevant law and uses a thorough legal analysis
• Argues persuasively, with reference to relevant law and facts

For an example of WLF's LEGAL OPINION LETTER please refer to:
Robert A. Levy, Constitutionally Troubled: 'TARP' and Its Delegation of Legislative Power Legal Opinion Letter, February 2009.

Winning Essays. A winning essay(s) will be published by WLF and widely distributed to federal and state judges; electronic and print media reporters; state attorneys general; attorneys practicing in the respective field, both in private and corporate practice, as well as influential academics. The winner will be provided with a letter from the Chairman of WLF to your law school Dean.

Announcement of Winning Essays. The winning essay(s) will be announced on January 16, 2010.

Academic Honesty. Entries must be original, unpublished work. The essay must be the work of the submitting student without substantial editorial input from others. All references and quotations from other papers must be cited. Any form of plagiarism will be reported to the student's law school. WLF retains publishing rights on winning essays.