Auckland lawyer Ana Lenard has been awarded the New Zealand Law Foundation Ethel Benjamin scholarship for outstanding women lawyers.

She plans to use the scholarship to pursue a Master of Laws in the United States at Columbia University focusing on dispute resolution, social justice and legal theory.

Ana Lenard

Ana graduated from the University of Auckland with an LLB(Hons) and a BSc (Geography and Psychology) and currently lectures there at the Faculty of Law as well as working as a junior barrister. While at university she founded the New Zealand Women’s Law Journal — Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a ngā Wāhine with her friend Allanah Colley, aimed at improving gender equality in and through the law.

“Ethel Benjamin was a pioneer – she pushed boundaries and paved the way for a better world. This scholarship honours Ethel’s courage and supports women to follow in her footsteps by imagining a better world and then implementing that vision,” says Ana.

“I intend to continue participating in a diverse range of law reform-focused initiatives, which is why developing a better understanding of what the law is and how to encourage progressive change through it is critical.”

The award honours Ethel Benjamin, New Zealand’s first woman barrister and solicitor, who was admitted to the bar in 1897. The New Zealand Law Foundation Ethel Benjamin Scholarships are awarded to postgraduate women who hold a law degree and have been accepted into a postgraduate law course in either New Zealand or overseas. The award is administered by Universities New Zealand on behalf of the New Zealand Law Foundation.