--- title: '2026 Writing Competition Questions' date: '2025-05-05T17:25:41-05:00' type: page word_count: 1825 char_count: 13294 tokens: 2373 --- # 2026 Writing Competition Questions **Do not attempt to communicate directly with any member of any of the journals. If you have a question relating to the competition, you should submit it anonymously through the message board on this website. In your questions, do not include anything that might be part of the answer.** Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. var formDisplay=1;var nfForms=nfForms||[];var form=[];form.id='4';form.settings={"objectType":"Form Setting","editActive":true,"title":"Writeon Questions","show_title":0,"allow_public_link":0,"public_link":"https:\/\/law.ua.edu\/ninja-forms\/47sxe","embed_form":"","clear_complete":1,"hide_complete":1,"default_label_pos":"above","wrapper_class":"","element_class":"","form_title_heading_level":"3","key":"","add_submit":1,"currency":"","unique_field_error":"A form with this value has already been submitted.","logged_in":false,"not_logged_in_msg":"","sub_limit_msg":"The form has reached its submission limit.","calculations":[],"formContentData":["question_1746483994984","question_about_1746533016626","submit_1746484006775"],"public_link_key":"47sxe","changeEmailErrorMsg":"Please enter a valid email address!","changeDateErrorMsg":"Please enter a valid date!","confirmFieldErrorMsg":"These fields must match!","fieldNumberNumMinError":"Number Min Error","fieldNumberNumMaxError":"Number Max Error","fieldNumberIncrementBy":"Please increment by ","formErrorsCorrectErrors":"Please correct errors before submitting this form.","validateRequiredField":"This is a required field.","honeypotHoneypotError":"Honeypot Error","fieldsMarkedRequired":"Fields marked with an *<\/span> are required","objectDomain":"display","drawerDisabled":false,"ninjaForms":"Ninja Forms","fieldTextareaRTEInsertLink":"Insert Link","fieldTextareaRTEInsertMedia":"Insert Media","fieldTextareaRTESelectAFile":"Select a file","tableInsertRowAbove":"Insert Row Above","tableInsertRowBelow":"Insert Row Below","tableInsertColumnLeft":"Insert Column Left","tableInsertColumnRight":"Insert Column Right","tableDeleteRow":"Delete Row","tableDeleteColumn":"Delete Column","tableDeleteTable":"Delete Table","tableLegacyNotice":"This content has tables in the old editor format. Custom styles are preserved until converted. Editing will update to the new format.","tableLegacyConvert":"Convert Now","tableInsertTable":"Insert Table","dismiss":"Dismiss","insertLink":"Insert Link","formHoneypot":"If you are a human seeing this field, please leave it empty.","fileUploadOldCodeFileUploadInProgress":"File Upload in Progress.","fileUploadOldCodeFileUpload":"FILE UPLOAD","currencySymbol":"$","thousands_sep":",","decimal_point":".","siteLocale":"en_US","dateFormat":"m\/d\/Y","startOfWeek":"1","of":"of","previousMonth":"Previous Month","nextMonth":"Next Month","months":["January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"monthsShort":["Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"],"weekdays":["Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday"],"weekdaysShort":["Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat"],"weekdaysMin":["Su","Mo","Tu","We","Th","Fr","Sa"],"recaptchaConsentMissing":"reCaptcha validation couldn't load.","recaptchaMissingCookie":"reCaptcha v3 validation couldn't load the cookie needed to submit the form.","recaptchaConsentEvent":"Accept reCaptcha cookies before sending the form.","currency_symbol":"","beforeForm":"","beforeFields":"","afterFields":"","afterForm":""};form.fields=[{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":999,"idAttribute":"id","type":"textarea","label":"Question","key":"question_1746483994984","label_pos":"above","required":1,"default":"","placeholder":"Do not add any identifiable information to your question!","container_class":"","element_class":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"characters","input_limit_msg":"Character(s) left","manual_key":false,"admin_label":"","help_text":"


<\/p>","textarea_rte":"","disable_rte_mobile":"","textarea_media":"","value":"","drawerDisabled":false,"id":36,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","parentType":"textarea","element_templates":["textarea","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap"},{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":999,"idAttribute":"id","type":"listradio","label":"Question About","key":"question_about_1746533016626","label_pos":"above","required":1,"options":[{"errors":[],"max_options":0,"label":"Casenote","value":"casenote","calc":"","selected":0,"order":0,"settingModel":{"settings":false,"hide_merge_tags":false,"error":false,"name":"options","type":"option-repeater","label":"Options Add New<\/a> <\/i> Import<\/a>","width":"full","group":"","value":[{"label":"One","value":"one","calc":"","selected":0,"order":0},{"label":"Two","value":"two","calc":"","selected":0,"order":1},{"label":"Three","value":"three","calc":"","selected":0,"order":2}],"columns":{"label":{"header":"Label","default":""},"value":{"header":"Value","default":""},"calc":{"header":"Calc Value","default":""},"selected":{"header":"<\/span>","default":0}}},"manual_value":true},{"errors":[],"max_options":0,"label":"Bluebook","value":"bluebook","calc":"","selected":0,"order":1,"settingModel":{"settings":false,"hide_merge_tags":false,"error":false,"name":"options","type":"option-repeater","label":"Options Add New<\/a> <\/i> Import<\/a>","width":"full","group":"","value":[{"label":"One","value":"one","calc":"","selected":0,"order":0},{"label":"Two","value":"two","calc":"","selected":0,"order":1},{"label":"Three","value":"three","calc":"","selected":0,"order":2}],"columns":{"label":{"header":"Label","default":""},"value":{"header":"Value","default":""},"calc":{"header":"Calc Value","default":""},"selected":{"header":"<\/span>","default":0}}}}],"container_class":"","element_class":"","admin_label":"","help_text":"","drawerDisabled":false,"id":38,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","parentType":"list","element_templates":["listradio","input"],"old_classname":"list-radio","wrap_template":"wrap"},{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":9999,"idAttribute":"id","type":"submit","label":"Submit","processing_label":"Processing","container_class":"","element_class":"","key":"submit_1746484006775","admin_label":"","id":37,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","label_pos":"above","parentType":"textbox","element_templates":["submit","button","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap-no-label"}];nfForms.push(form);--- **Bluebook Exam Questions and Answers:** Q: For question 5, does “Part II.B” mean “Part II section B?” Or should I consider it as one part within itself? A: On this point, the question is written as intended. Q: Is “Bluebook” in footnote 2 seen as a publication that needs to be italicized under Bb 2.2(a)(ii)? A: No. Because footnote 2 references *this* Bluebook exam rather than the Bluebook itself, you may assume that there are no italicization issues with “Bluebook” as currently written in the exam. Q: Some rules in the Bluebook instruct certain things to be done in accordance with another rule. In these cases, would we cite both the rules? For example, if we need to use Rule X, and it instructs to abbreviate in accordance with Rule Y, would we cite both Rule X and Rule Y in the correction? A: Yes! Q: Is the 8th footnote a book or a periodical? A: As law review citations will often lead editors to have to use context clues to make informed decisions about the appropriate source designation, use the context clues provided in this citation to answer this question. Q: (Regarding the first footnote) is the sentence in quotations the title of the commentary or a quote from it? A: It is the title of the commentary. Q: For a quotation in a parenthetical, should we presume that the quotation is the end of the sentence or that there is an additional piece of the sentence? A: Please use only the information provided in the footnote to answer this question. Everything you need is in the citation. Q: When it is required for a certain piece of information to be provided and it is not in the citation, how do we determine what to put? A: As stated on page one of the examination instructions: “Should the rules require you to add information that does not exist in the citation, you may do so however you wish, so long as it is clear that you are making the proper substantive edit.” Q: For number 6, is it trying to cite sections 2 through 5 or section 2 subsection 5? A: Great question! Because this could reasonably be interpreted either way, either interpretation—if cited correctly—will be given full credit. Your choice! Q: For question 7, is Minnesota Statute § 90––20 supposed to be multiple sections or section 90 and a subsection 20? A: Given the information provided in the question, on this point the question is written as intended. Q: For Rule 4.1 purposes, do we assume that these footnotes are all part of the same article, cited successively? A: Please reread the instructions provided for the second half of your question. Whether 4.1 governs is your determination to make. Q: For question 2, should we presume that for the judge there may be another individual with the same last name? A: Please do not presume any information that is not contained in the examination. Q: If you are, in accordance with the Bluebook, creating a short form of a citation, do you correct everything that is wrong with the citation before changing it to short form or just change it to short form? A: Please refer to the examples provided in the instructions. Q: For footnote 5, is “Part II.B” referring to a different part of the preceding source or to an additional source? A: It is referring to the “Part II.B” of *this* article. Q: Do we repeat errors seen in an earlier footnote if they are present again? If yes, are these counted towards the total of sixty-three? A: To the extent the errors are present in the same source cited earlier, please refer to the instructions, particularly page two. To the extent the same errors are present in different sources, then yes, they count toward the sixty-three-error total. Q: Can you get points by correcting things that are missing from the question (as according to the bluebook) and get points even though we may not know how to correct it because we don’t have enough information? A: Please reread this question thread and the examination instructions. Q: For the quotation in Footnote 7, is the language ommitted at the end and after the end of the sentence? Or only after the end? A: The omitted portion of the quoted material is from the same sentence. For example, it would be as if “of the quoted material” is omitted from the preceding sentence. Q: Following example #3, does each different type of error that falls under the same rule need to be individually listed with the rule? Or can every error falling under the same rule be listed together with the rule? A: You can do either; as long as you make it clear that there are multiple issues, you will receive credit! **Casenote Questions and Answers:** Q: One example case note has fully justified margins, but the other does not. Does it matter which format we use this year? A: Either margin is fine. Any specific formatting that is required has been specified in the instructions. Q: For the Brigham City case, is the line saying to cite as S. Ct. instead of U.S. meant to be instructions for us or was it just copied from wherever the case was? A: Please use the Bluebook as a guide on which reporter to cite. No instructions were added to any of the PDFs of the cases. Q: Are we allowed to cite cases cited within the cases provided to us but that are not listed on the website? A: You may not use cases that are not provided on the website. However, if a case provided on the website cites or discusses another case not included on the website, you may reference that authority as it appears within the provided decision. Be sure to follow the Bluebook rules for properly citing such references. Q: How closely can we use the example case notes as examples for broader organization? Both case notes use almost identical organization of headings and subheadings when discussing their respective Supreme Court decisions. If we find that organization to be effective, can we utilize that same organization, or is it preferred we come up with a new organization? A: Please use your discretion on how the topic for this case note should be organized. There is no preference per se, as long as the case note flows and makes sense! Q: When citing Case, should we cite according to the opinion (607 U.S. \_\_\_ (2026), or cite it as a slip opinion with regards to the Bluebook? A: The Bluebook is the governing authority.