Student Academic Prizes

Raoul Berger Prize
This prize was established in 1990 through the generosity of Raoul Berger. It provides annual prizes of $2,000* to a law student who submits the best paper in the Senior Research Program.

Leigh B. Bienen Prize
This prize was established in 2011 through the generosity of Henry and Leigh Bienen. It provides an annual award of $5,000* to the law student who writes the best note or comment that has been approved for publication in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. The prize is awarded for excellence in writing and research, and for the intelligence and originality of the writer's approach to the topic selected for the written piece. The prize winner will be selected by the JCLC Editor in Chief and the relevant Note and Comment Editors from those essays that have been selected for publication in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology for that year.

Barnet & Scott Hodes Prize
This prize was established in 1962 through the generosity of Barnet Hodes, JD '21. This annual prize of $5,000* will be awarded to the law student who writes the best paper on an aspect of the law of local government.

Charles Cheney Hyde Prize
This prize was established in 1905 by Professor Charles Cheney Hyde. This $5,000* prize will be awarded every other year to the law student who writes the best paper related to public international law.

Kirkland & Ellis Scholars Program
The Kirkland & Ellis Scholar Program was established in 2012 through the generosity of alumni and friends at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. The K&E Scholars Program is a set of annual awards to recognize the excellence of the top 1L student in each section of the first-year substantive required classes and the top 2L student in select upper-level courses. The program provides a prize of $500* to each recipient. 

Lowden-Wigmore Prizes
This prize was established in 1937 by Frank O. Lowden, Class of 1887, and named in honor of Mr. Lowden and Dean John Henry Wigmore. The annual prizes are awarded to students for their success and public speaking skills in the Julius H. Miner Moot Court Program, and to one student each from the Law ReviewJCLC, and JILB for their strong legal writing skills. 

The Northwestern Pritzker Entrepreneurship Prize was established in 2017 through the generosity of the Pritzker Family Foundation. This $5,000* biannual prize is awarded to a second or third year law student who most exemplifies Northwestern Pritzker Law’s spirit of innovation, entrepreneurial drive, and integrity. 

For consideration for this prize, please submit a not more than 1,000 word essay about why you believe you exemplify Northwestern Pritzker Law’s spirit of innovation, entrepreneurial drive, and integrity, and how you would use the prize money. Submissions should be sent to Brett Gould (brett-gould@law.northwestern.edu) by no later than December 31 each year for consideration for the fall semester prize and by no later than May 31 for consideration for the spring semester prize. Submissions will be reviewed and voted upon by a faculty panel.

Harold D. Shapiro Prize
This prize was established in 1977 by Stephen B. Lemann in honor of Harold D. Shapiro, JD '52. The annual prize of $3,000* is to be awarded to the best student in the course in Business Planning at the Law School.

John Paul Stevens Prize
This prize was established in 1985 by former law clerks of Justice John Paul Stevens in his honor. The annual prize of $3,000* will be awarded to the third year law student graduating with the highest GPA.


For more information regarding these opportunities, please contact Lauren Antilety with the Office of Alumni Relations & Development at lauren.antilety@law.northwestern.edu.

*All prize amounts are subject to change from year to year.