The competition required a 1500-word essay on one of three topics. Gaffney's essay was based on commercial litigation, litigation fund agreements and the uncertainty surrounding security costs.

Other topics for essays included expert evidence, in relation to specialised knowledge, impartiality and "hot tubs" for expert reports and the application of the parole evidence rule in civil proceedings.

Gaffney won $250 in cash, a bottle of wine and a book donated by LexisNexis.

Vice Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Civil Litigation Committee Natalie Karam said the competition was important to ensure young lawyers engaged with issues on an academic, conceptual and practical level and to develop ties between the judiciary and NSW young lawyers.

"Justice Einstein has been an ardent supporter of encouraging young solicitors to contribute to fields of legal scholarship and, as judge of the competition, he has not only personally critiqued these essays, but has also offered his own insights into pertinent issues that currently affect civil litigation and contributed to the topics for submission," she said.

"The topics themselves highlight areas of litigation that are of increasing interest to young practitioners and their impacts on legal proceedings are profound and continually evolving. We see the essay competition as a mechanism for contributing knowledge to the practice of law, and particularly its effects on civil litigation."

- Sarah Sharples