Dead Hand Writing Competition
Description
The Probate, Trusts, and Estates Section invites all eligible law students to showcase their writing skills and explore the laws of succession in the annual Dead Hand Writing Competition. The author of the winning submission will receive a cash prize.
Submissions for the 2023-2024 Competition are due by February 1, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
Click here for additional details and submission requirements for the 2023-2024 Competition.
2022-2023 Competition Winners
The Writing Competition Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022-2023 Writing Competition, Jasmin Hernandez Du Bois and Sierra Grandy.
The prompt for the 2022-2023 Competition was: identify one or more barriers that prevent access to justice in probate, trusts, and estates law, and provide ideas for how to remove those barriers.
Jasmin Hernandez Du Bois, 2L at the University of Minnesota Law School, wrote about the intersection of probate and the prison system. The judges were impressed by Ms. Du Bois’ attention to detail at a practical level, including a proposed statutory change to address possible concerns of this segment of the population.
Sierra Grandy, 2L at the University of Minnesota Law School, wrote about estate planning for neuro divergent clients. Our learnings from her piece began with something estate planners know all too well: Estate planning can be daunting. The subject matter, complexity, and antiquated language involved can present barriers to anyone, but those barriers might be uniquely experienced or especially acute for neuro divergent clients. The judges were impressed by Ms. Grandy’s client-focused approach to providing legal services.
We are immensely grateful to all who applied and participated in the Competition. We especially want to thank our guest judges, Judge Michael Browne and Denise Rahne, for their invaluable wisdom and insight. You can read more about our esteemed guest judges below.
2022-2023 Competition Judges
Submissions were evaluated anonymously by a panel of judges consisting of members of the Writing Competition Committee and guest judges selected for their expertise in estate planning, probate, and/or trust law in Minnesota.
We thank our 2022-2023 guest judges, Judge Michael K. Browne and Denise Rahne.
Judge Michael K. Browne
Judge Browne is a Hennepin County District Court Judge and is currently serving as the Presiding Judge in Probate/Mental Health Court. In addition to his work on the bench, Judge Browne serves as an adjunct professor and law student mentor. Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Browne practiced civil rights law, most recently for the City of Minneapolis.
Denise Rahne
Denise Rahne is a Partner at Robins Kaplan LLP where she Co-Chairs the Wealth Planning, Administration, and Fiduciary Disputes Group. Denise serves corporate and individual clients in active and potential litigation involving estates, trusts, fiduciaries, shareholders, and closely-held corporations. Denise is a Member of the Probate, Trusts, and Estates Section Council and has a background in education as a former teacher and program leader.