Previous Winners

Paisley Irregulars Essay Competition in Negligence Law

June 2025 (deadline Friday 27 June 2025, 12:00 noon Mountain Time)
Topic: Does a duty of care arise in respect to the actions (or inactions) of the semi-autonomous or autonomous systems now regularly entering daily life, and if so, what is the nature of that duty, by whom is the duty owed, and to whom? (Examples of these autonomous and semi-autonomous systems include generative AI that produces documents and pictures, self-driving cars, medical screening and diagnostic tools, etc.)

June 2024
Topic: Discussion of the development, or an aspect, of the duty of care in negligence and the continuing contribution, if any, of Donoghue v Stevenson.
Winner: Shan Malhi, “Gambling with Responsibility: Time for Donoghue to Don its Red Cape Again”, (Nov 2024) 82 The Advocate 839.

June 2023
Topic: Donoghue v. Stevenson at 90: a review of the global influence of Donoghue v. Stevenson in the period 1932-2022 (a spatio-temporal review of the influence of Donoghue v Stevenson).
Winner: Competition suspended

May 2022
Topic: Duty of care issues arising from or related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Winner: award withheld
Honourable Mention: Austen Erhardt for “A Duty of Care: the communitarian origins of negligence law, and the legal responsibilities of individuals to prevent the transmission of COVID-19”.

From the collection of AF Wylie OBE. Pictures courtesy of AF Wylie OBE.