As an international corporate law firm, CERHA HEMPEL aims to support high-quality education and practical legal training and to support those students and graduates who have shown themselves to be particularly gifted and talented individuals.

To promote the academic activities of those studying Austrian, European and international corporate law, CERHA HEMPEL in cooperation with the business law programme at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) will once again be presenting the CERHA HEMPEL Best Thesis Award – the LAWard – in recognition of outstanding academic work. The LAWard 2025 has a total prize fund of EUR 5,000.

Prizes will be awarded by a jury consisting of academics and legal practitioners, in the following three categories:

Undergraduate dissertation

Master's dissertation

PhD thesis

Prizes:

(Note: The LAWard jury reserves the right to distribute the prize money differently) 

Entries for the LAWard 2025 can be submitted from now until 31/10/2025 (date of the postmark). An expert panel of judges consisting of representatives drawn from the fields of academia and practice will decide on the awarding of cash prizes.

Facultas Verlags- und Buchhandels AG is supporting the LAWard 2025 by agreeing to publish the winning PhD thesis and by providing book vouchers.

Conditions of participation:

Applicants must be students or graduates of the business law program of the Vienna University of Economics and Business or of a doctoral program of an Austrian faculty of law. Undergraduate dissertations, Master's dissertations and PhD theses from one of the aforementioned fields of study that have been awarded a "Good" or "Very Good" grade at the time of their entry may be submitted; the date of the last assessment may not be before 30/06/2024. 

If the dissertation or thesis has also been submitted for or has already been awarded other prizes, this must be stated in the application letter.

Entries can be submitted that deal with topics related to business law, for instance:

• Employment law
• Banking and finance
• Corporate law
• Trade law and arbitration
• Capital markets law
• Real estate law
• Media and telecommunications law, and IP law
• Eastern European law
• Public commercial and European law
• Civil law and civil procedural law
• White collar crime

Entries must be submitted

• in duplicate;
• with a hard or soft cover or assembled as a document in some other way (please do not submit loose sheets of paper);
• using double-sided printing;
• by no later than 31 October 2025 (date of the postmark);
• to CERHA HEMPEL in a sealed envelope. Entries can also be submitted in person at the following address:

CERHA HEMPEL Rechtsanwälte GmbH

Attn: Human Resources

Parkring 2

Vienna, A-1010

The following documents must be submitted in duplicate with the work and must also be sent electronically to golegal(at)cerhahempel.com:

• A brief resume for the author, including up-to-date contact details
• An assessment of the work/certificate or diploma (a copy will suffice)
• A short summary of the main arguments underpinning the work submitted, not exceeding three pages.

An expert panel of judges will decide on the awarding of cash prizes. The cash prize will be divided among several applicants and will be awarded in January 2026. The decision of the jury is final and not subject to any appeal, including before the courts. For organisational reasons, the works submitted cannot be returned.

Vienna, February 2025

Contact persons at CERHA HEMPEL:

Dr. Clemens Hasenauer, LL.M./MBA

Managing Partner 

clemens.hasenauer(at)cerhahempel.com

Barbara Skok

Human Resources

barbara.skok(at)cerhahempel.com 

www.cerhahempel.com

Contact person at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien):

Mag. Mira Ferguson

Email: jusplus@wu.ac.at

www.wu.ac.at