======> Finding topics in the local newspaper

The winner of the 2007 International Association of Defense Counsel legal writing contest picked out her winning topic, while reading her local newspaper.

"[The winning paper] was inspired by ... an article in the Oregonian quoting a prominent critic of fingerprint methodology as stating that it had never been scientifically validated. Like most people, [the contest winner] had always assumed fingerprint identification was firmly grounded in science, and she wanted to find out more. S[he] was taking Criminal Procedure ... at the time, and [her professor] proposed that she approach the topic as an independent study subject, and offered to be her advisor. " The full press release is here.