KU News Release

Recent KU graduate wins awards in legal writing competitions

Justin Waggoner

LAWRENCE — A recent graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law has won two prizes for legal writing and will have articles published in an environmental law journal.

Justin Waggoner, a Glen Elder native, won first place in the State Bar of Texas International Law Section’s Law School Writing Contest and second place in the seventh annual Environmental Law Essay Contest, sponsored by the Environmental Law Section of the Michigan State Bar.

First-place honors in the Texas contest came with $1,000, consideration for publication in the Texas Transnational Law Quarterly and an invitation to the International Law Section’s 21st annual International Law Institute in 2009. Waggoner also picked up a $1,000 prize in the Michigan competition, as well as future publication in the Michigan Environmental Law Journal and an invitation to dinner with members of the Council of the Environmental Law Section.

“It is such an honor to have won these awards,” said Waggoner, who graduated in May and now works for Case, Moses, Zimmerman & Wilson PA in Wichita. “I believe international law is a fascinating area of practice, so it is particularly rewarding for my papers to have been recognized. Due to the significance of environmental matters, I am also very excited to have my views and analyses published in the Michigan Environmental Law Journal."

In the Texas competition, Waggoner won with a paper titled “The World Trade Organization: A Vacant Playground?” The piece analyzes the multitude of bilateral trade agreements that have arisen, while multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization have stalled. In particular, the paper focuses on how the United States and the European Union have detracted from multilateral trade negotiations by “racing” each other to sign bilateral trade agreements with other countries.

The paper that won second place in the Michigan contest is titled “Developing a Better America Rather Than Perpetuating the American Dream: Why Transit Oriented Development Has Merit.” In the paper, Waggoner describes the benefits of transit-oriented development, especially in comparison with urban-sprawl development.

A second paper that Waggoner submitted to the Michigan writing contest, “Empowering the Environment: An Analysis of the Environmental Mandate Utilized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,” will also be published in the Michigan Environmental Law Journal.

This isn’t the first time Waggoner has been recognized for his legal writing. Last year, he won first place in the Andrew P. Vance Memorial Writing Competition, sponsored by the Customs and International Trade Bar Association and the Brooklyn Law School. His paper was published in the Brooklyn Journal of International Law and will be reprinted later this year in a book titled “Geographical Indications.”

Waggoner is the son of Frank and Becky Waggoner of Glen Elder. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Kansas State University in 2005. He graduated in spring 2008 from the KU School of Law, where he also completed a certificate in international trade and finance.

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