Assistant Crown Counsel Rosa Polaschek has been awarded the 2017 New Zealand Law Foundation Cleary Memorial Prize.

The prize, instituted in 1964 to honour the memory of Court of Appeal Judge Sir Timothy Cleary, is worth $5,000 and is awarded to a young barrister or solicitor who shows outstanding future promise in the legal profession.

Rosa Polaschek graduated with BA/LLB (Hons) from University of Auckland in 2015 and received the Senior Scholar and Deans’ Academic Excellence awards. After graduating Rosa worked for two years as a judges’ clerk at the Auckland High Court. She is now an Assistant Crown Counsel in the Crown Law Office's Crown Legal Risk team.

The Law Foundation says as well as excelling in law, Rosa has made, and continues to make, an impressive contribution to a number of community causes.