With the aim of promoting creative thinking and supporting the most diligent students of competition law and young lawyers, the ZAB PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal (PwC Legal) law firm, in cooperation with the Competition Council (KP) and the Riga Graduate School of Law, announces a research contest in Competition Law. The winner will receive a cash prize of 1,500 euros from PwC Legal, as well as an internship at the Competition Council and other prizes.
The contestants have to prepare a research paper on competition law, presenting a reasoned vision of its application based on legal reasoning. The work can be prepared in Latvian or English.
Bachelor, masters or doctoral level law students, as well as practising lawyers born after January 1, 1998, are invited to participate in the competition.
Chairman of the Competition Council, Juris Gaiķis: "Each year, the participants of the competition research more and more complicated topics, starting from violations of dominant positions, ending with current digital markets and the aspect of competition in them. We hope that also this year, the research papers will mark new trends, and focus on practical applications, making a significant contribution to the Competition law. The Competition Council will provide the winner with an internship to give an opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in practice and open up new career opportunities."
Head of PwC Legal's Competition and EU law practice group, Māris Butāns: "This year in Latvia marks the impact of the global economy on society and business. The role of different sectors of the national economy in the purchasing power of society is different, but the main driver in reducing inflation is still the rivalry between companies. Industries where development has been slower are struggling to retain their customers, while where development is faster, regulatory regulation is catching up. How these companies adapt can make or break society's well-being. This year, too, we expect creativity and a creative approach from the students in solving various challenges."
Ieva Rācenāja, director of the Riga Graduate School of Law: "I was surprised and pleased by the desire of the participants of the previous year's competition to seek answers to complex questions, as well as to offer their own solutions for solving practical problems, and we are sure that this will be the next step for the participants towards academic excellence. We invite every student to consider participating in this competition."
The works prepared between 24 October 2023 and 19 May 2024 must be sent to maris.butans(abols)pwc.com.
The jury will evaluate all the submitted works, and five finalists will be determined by May 27, 2024. The finalists will be invited to present their work to the commission by June 14, 2024.
In case of questions, please contact Maris Butans, Head of the Competition Law group of PwC Legal, by email: maris.butans(abols)pwc.com.
The rules of the competition (in Latvian) are available here.