About the Morrison Prize
The Morrison Prize is a $10,000 award presented annually to the author(s) of the most impactful sustainability-related legal academic paper published in North America during the previous year.
Eligibility
The Morrison Prize contest is open to full-time law professors who have published environmental sustainability-related papers in printed U.S. or Canadian legal academic journals during the contest period. The contest is not open to students. All papers appearing in a qualifying journal’s final 2024 issue or in an issue printed and circulated prior to December 15, 2025, fall within the 2026 contest period. Works-in-progress and papers that are not published before the deadline are not eligible.
Law journal articles focused on topics in environmental law, water law, energy law, natural resources law, land use law, disaster law, climate change law, or agricultural law meet the subject matter requirements for eligibility.
Judging process and criteria
The Morrison Prize seeks to recognize the paper published within the eligibility period that is likely to have the most significant positive long-term impact on the advancement of the environmental sustainability movement. All eligible papers entered into the prize contest will undergo independent review and scoring by a diverse group of full-time law professors who teach in environmental sustainability-related areas at four different accredited North American law schools.
The contest scoring system focuses primarily on a paper’s quality and originality of analysis and potential for real-world impact on policy developments directly related to environmental sustainability goals.
ASU Law will announce the 2026 Morrison Prize winner in February of 2026. The winner must present the winning paper at the Tenth Annual SRP Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators in Spring of 2026 to claim the cash prize.
2026 submissions instructions
To enter the 2026 Morrison Prize contest, complete both steps below before Wednesday, December 31, 2025.
Step 1
Submit your information through our online form.
Step 2
Mail a cover letter and five (5) offprints of your qualifying paper to:
2026 Morrison Prize Contest
c/o: Zachary Cooper
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Arizona State University
111 E. Taylor Street, Mail Code 9520
Phoenix, AZ 85004-4467
Entries postmarked by the deadline will be accepted. Nominations of Colleagues’ or peers’ articles are welcome but must include five (5) offprints. For any questions regarding the contest, please contact Troy Rule at 480-965-9553 or via Troy.Rule@asu.edu.
2026 Morrison Prize Winner
Heather Payne
Congratulations to Heather Payne, the Carter C. Kissel Professor in Law at The Ohio State University’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law, winner of the 11th annual Morrison Prize for her article, “Reliance and Reliability,” published in the UC Irvine Law Review.
In her article, Payne examines how legal and regulatory frameworks governing energy reliability often overlook the lived realities and dependence of consumers. She argues that as electricity systems evolve amid climate pressures, grid modernization and the clean-energy transition, regulators must place consumers at the center of reliability planning and decision-making. By reframing reliability as not only a technical engineering challenge but also a legal and equity-driven concern, Payne’s work highlights how consumer reliance on essential energy services should shape regulatory priorities.
