ABA Journal / Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction

The ABA Journal, the flagship magazine of the American Bar Association (“ABA”), sponsors the annual ABA Journal / Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction.

The ABA Journal will accept entries for the Contest through May 1, 2025. Entries must be original works of fiction of no more than 5,000 words that illuminate the role of the law and/or lawyers in modern society. The winner will receive a prize of $5,000. Entrants must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents and 21 years or older by May 1, 2025.

Contest entries will be judged by a panel selected by the editor and publisher of the ABA Journal and the winner confirmed by the ABA Journal Board of Editors.

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.