Baylor Law School Announces Winners of the 2024 Paper Chase Legal Writing Competition

January 28, 2025

WACO, Texas — Baylor Law School is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Paper Chase Legal Writing Competition. This high-stakes competition, made possible through the generous support of FVF Law and the invaluable involvement of the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA), celebrates exceptional legal writing and analytical skills among law students from across Texas.

Winners of the 2024 Paper Chase
  • Winner: Luca Azzariti Crousillat, University of Texas School of Law
  • Finalist: Grant Shellhouse, University of Texas School of Law
  • Finalist: Mackenzie Young, SMU Dedman School of Law
  • Semi-Finalist: Chrissy Duncan, UNT Dallas College of Law
  • Semi-Finalist: Ian Miller, University of Texas School of Law
  • Semi-Finalist: Vanessa Valdez, Thurgood Marshall School of Law
  • Honorable Mention: Alejandra Pasillas, Thurgood Marshall School of Law
  • Honorable Mention: Aimee Hernandez, Texas Tech University School of Law
  • Honorable Mention: Weilin Kris Lu, UNT Dallas College of Law
  • Honorable Mention: Sidney Wiswell, University of Texas School of Law

This year’s competition featured a challenging legal problem inspired by a real-world scenario, testing participants’ ability to analyze complex legal issues and present their findings with precision and clarity. The problem tasked competitors with crafting a motion to strike affirmative defenses in an answer. Their arguments focused on applying United States Supreme Court decisions in Twombly and Iqbal to defensive pleadings. These landmark cases require a plaintiff to establish a plausible basis for claims, and the competitors were challenged to analyze whether this plausibility standard should also apply to affirmative defenses.

“The Paper Chase offers a unique opportunity for Texas law students to showcase their legal writing talents in a competitive setting,” said Professor Matt Cordon, Director of Baylor Law School’s Legal Writing Program. “It’s not just a test of writing ability—it’s a test of critical thinking, legal reasoning, and professionalism. We’re proud of this year’s participants and their outstanding work.”

A Unique and Unbiased Competition

TYLA Director Timothy Adams, Assistant District Attorney at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Houston, Texas, highlighted Baylor Law School’s unique approach to The Paper Chase Competition.

“The Paper Chase is different from other legal writing competitions for a few reasons,” Adams said. “One reason is the anonymous and independent ranking process utilized. Baylor Law creates the writing prompt and associated materials, anonymizes submissions, and then sends them to TYLA personnel for review. This makes for a fair evaluation of the merits of each submission.”

Adams added, “Several of this year’s graders commented on how this year’s submissions seemed harder to rank due to the high level of writing seen through a vast majority of the submissions. In my opinion, this is a good problem to have, and it’s a compliment to the writing professors from the Texas law schools.”

TYLA and FVF Law: Driving Excellence

The competition’s success would not be possible without the support of TYLA and FVF Law. TYLA’s involvement underscores its commitment to fostering excellence among the next generation of lawyers.

“TYLA is always very happy to answer the call and participate in The Paper Chase,” said Adams. “It goes directly toward TYLA’s mission as the ‘public service arm’ of the State Bar of Texas. Specifically, TYLA’s involvement affords an opportunity for participating committee members to observe and reward the legal writing scholars of today as they continue to hone their skills as future attorneys.”

FVF Law’s generous competition sponsorship underscores the firm’s dedication to advancing legal education. “We are proud to support young lawyers through the Paper Chase competition because lawyers who excel in legal writing excel in practicing law,” noted  Aaron Von Flatern, Founding Partner of FVF Law. “Good legal writing requires discipline, depth, and logic. Excellent legal writers become leaders in whatever area of law they choose to practice.”

A Launchpad for Future Success

Luca Azzariti Crousillat of the University of Texas School of Law will receive a $5,000 grand prize. He and fellow finalists Grant Shellhouse of the University of Texas School of Law and Mackenzie Young of SMU Dedman School of Law will have the unique opportunity to present their work at the 2025 Lone Star Regional Legal Writing Conference hosted by Baylor Law School on April 11, 2025.

“Competitions like The Paper Chase are invaluable for law students,” said Professor Cordon. “They provide a real-world platform for students to test their skills and receive recognition and feedback on their hard work. We are grateful to TYLA and FVF Law for their partnership in making this event successful.”

Baylor Law extends its heartfelt congratulations to all winners and participants. The Paper Chase continues to set the standard for excellence in legal writing and advocacy, and we look forward to seeing these talented students excel in their future legal careers.