College of Law Student Wins Prestigious Legal Writing Award

Nabutsingso “Mimi” Hoshut, a student at the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law, was recently named champion of The Paper Chase, Baylor University’s legal writing competition for Texas law school students. She was recognized in a virtual ceremony and received a cash prize award of $5,000.

The Paper Chase is a practice-oriented writing competition designed to test law students’ analytical and legal writing skills. It uses a real-world writing problem adapted from actual case files. The competition is co-sponsored by the Texas Young Lawyers Association, the law firm of FVF Law in Austin, and Baylor Law School.  

“It is an immense honor to have been selected among so many excellent submissions this year,” Hoshut said. “This problem challenged me to be deliberate and effective with my words and time, particularly as an evening student."

The Paper Chase is an annual competition that challenges participants to craft practical, efficient legal documents under tight time constraints. Baylor Law received the largest pool of entries ever in 2023. Hoshut competed against students from eight Texas law schools. This is the second time a UNT Dallas College of Law student has won the competition since it began seven years ago.

“This accomplishment would not have been possible without the excellent legal writing education I’ve received from UNT Dallas College of Law. I am incredibly excited to bring The Paper Chase trophy back to our school," said Hoshut.

“We are so proud of Mimi. She is a hard-working student and a brilliant writer,” said Christine Tamer, Associate Professor at the UNT Dallas College of Law and the Director of Legal Writing. “To compete against students from law schools all across Texas and come out on top is a huge achievement for our legal writing program and the UNT Dallas College of Law as a whole.”

Born in Mongolia, Hoshut was five years old when she came to America with her parents. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s in biotechnology, both from UT Dallas (UTD). Hoshut is in her final semester of the UNT Dallas College of Law evening program and expects to graduate this May.

Like most of her evening program peers, Hoshut is pivoting to a new career. She spent the past decade working as a healthcare administrator, where she was immersed in — and intrigued by — the operational and regulatory issues facing physicians and healthcare entities in Texas.

“I discovered that I enjoyed researching clinical policies and drafting medical necessity appeal letters,” Hoshut said. “Contemplating a career change that would allow me to solve complex issues through research and writing, I turned to law school.”

Hoshut is interested in both Healthcare Law and Intellectual Property Law and plans to take the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) exam soon. Upon graduation, Hoshut will join Thompson Coburn’s Dallas office, where she worked during the summers of her first and second years of law school. Coincidentally, her mentor at TC, Kamran Anwar, was the prior champion of The Paper Chase and inspired her to enter.

Hoshut serves as the Acquisitions Editor for On the Cusp, a UNT Dallas College of Law publication, and the Thompson Coburn Competition Co-Chair for the Board of Advocates. She recently returned from the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Regional Competition, a moot court competition that emphasizes developing oral advocacy skills through real-world experience.