Sponsored by The PIABA Foundation, the 2012 James E. Beckley Student Writing Competition winners have been announced. "This is the first year The PIABA Foundation has sponsored The Beckley Competition and the authors continue to impress the judges with the quality of their writing and depth of understanding of the issues presented in their submissions," said Robin Ringo, Director. "It is our honor to recognize the winning authors."

Currently a law student at Florida State University College of Law, Frederick Hearn finished 1st Place, received a $1,000 stipend and  invitation to attend the PIABA 21st Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas where he was recognized by the Association. His paper, How New Swap Regulations Mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act Could Help Stabilize the Repo Market, will appear in Volume 19, Issue 3 of the 2012 PIABA Bar Journal.

For his paper entitled, Not Much to "Like" About the Facebook IPO: How Regulation FD Can Help Fix the Waining Confidence of the Reasonable Investor, Duquesne University School of Law student, James Doring, finished second and received a $750 stipend.

Pepperdine University School of Law student, Coy Garrison, finished in third place and received a $500 stipend for his paper, Non-Traditional "Customers" in FINRA Arbitration: The Need For A Broad Interpretation of FINRA Rule 12200.

The PIABA Foundation would like to acknowledge and thank the contest judging team for their contributions to the selection process: Marnie Lambert, Columbus, Ohio; Mike Edmiston, Studio City, California; Brian Smiley, Atlanta, Georgia; Melanie Cherdack, Miami, Florida; and Adam Nicollazo, New York City, New York.