The Laura Cooke Essay Prize in memory of Laura Cooke (1977 – 2025), much admired and greatly missed Chair and committee member of BILA

The Laura Cooke Essay Prize

in memory of Laura Cooke (1977 – 2025),

much admired and greatly missed Chair and committee member of BILA

Entries are invited for the 2026 Laura Cooke Essay Prize, organised by the British Insurance Law Association.  The subject to write on is:

‘Propose, and justify, one reform of the law of insurance’

To be eligible to enter the competition, you must be under the age of 30 on 24th January 2027.  Qualified lawyers with more than 2 years post-qualification experience may not enter the competition.

The winner will receive a cash prize of £250 and will be given a five-day internship (a Monday to Friday) with Manoj Vaghela at Wordley Partnership, London, EC3 (actual dates subject to arrangement with Manoj).  The winning submission will also be considered for publication in the British Insurance Law Association Journal.

Rules and Process:

  • Maximum word limit: 2,500 words (excluding footnotes and endnotes).
  • Submission deadline: 11pm (UK time) on Sunday 24th January 2027.
  • Submissions should be emailed as an attachment (in Word or pdf format) to: office@bila.org.uk. Please state “Submission for Laura Cooke Essay Prize” in the subject title of your email.
  • Submissions are welcome using any method of legal analysis, including (but not restricted to) law and economics, legal history and empirical legal studies.
  • Submissions must be original work but may repurpose academic assessments completed during studies (subject to permission from the academic department concerned).
  • No use of generative AI is permitted. Submissions will be verified using standard plagiarism and AI detection software. The committee may ask contributors to present their work orally (via an online presentation) in selecting a winner.
  • Submissions are welcome considering the law of insurance in any jurisdiction, but source material (both primary and secondary sources cited) must be routinely available in the English language. Copies of the material cited may be requested.
  • Referencing: Oscola (link: here) by preference but any widely recognised system (e.g. Harvard) may be used as long as used consistently.
  • Footnotes to be used for referencing only, not content. Any content in footnotes will be disregarded.
  • Submissions will be assessed by members of the BILA committee. Their decision is final.

 

Back To Top