Auckland lawyer Jack Alexander has been awarded the 2019 Cleary Memorial Prize.

Currently an associate at Gilbert/Walker, Jack was previously a Judges' Clerk in the Court of Appeal. He ranked third in his University of Auckland graduating class and was awarded a Senior Scholarship in law.

Jack Alexander.

The Cleary Memorial Prize is awarded in memory of Sir Timothy Cleary, past President of both the Wellington District and New Zealand Law Societies, and a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Worth $5,000, the prize is awarded annually by the Law Foundation to a young barrister or solicitor who shows future promise in the legal profession.

In addition to his academic success, Jack Alexander has spent time demonstrating leadership and service within his community. Whilst at university Jack spent three years volunteering with the Equal Justice Project, a student-run organisation improving access to justice in New Zealand. He was also appointed student representative to the Legal Research Foundation and in 2015 and 2016, led a pro-bono team, co-ordinating research on cases involving human rights and access to justice issues.

With academic work published in eight peer-reviewed journals on a variety of areas of law, Jack hopes to pursue his academic interests with postgraduate study in the United Kingdom, undertaking research on how the law responds to clauses in contracts which purport to exclude or limit the liability of one of the parties.