Three lawyers have been awarded 2019 New Zealand Law Foundation Ethel Benjamin Scholarships.

The award was established in 1997 and honours New Zealand's first woman barrister and solicitor, Ethel Benjamin, who was admitted in 1897. Its value is up to $50,000 annually.

Nicola Hodge will study for her LLM at Cambridge University focusing on issues of constitutional and human rights law, particularly litigation aspects, in order to broaden her understanding of contemporary issues of social justice. Nichola is a former top graduate of the University of Canterbury Law School and is currently working as a solicitor at the Wellington branch of Meredith Connell. Before this she clerked for Justice Glazebrook in the Supreme Court.

Harriet Farquhar will study for her LLM at NYU, focusing on human rights, constitutional and international law, in particular on issues of climate change-related displacement and migration in the Pacific region. Harriet is an Assistant Crown Counsel in the Constitutional and Human Rights Team at Crown Law. She is a former top graduate of the Law Faculty at Victoria University of Wellington and clerked for Justice Arnold in the Supreme Court.

Rosalind Kos will undertake study for her LLM at the University of Chicago exploring a comparative and pragmatic approach to the prosecution of family violence cases. Rosalind aims to identify possible reforms to New Zealand’s criminal procedure in family violence cases. Rosalind is currently a Senior Solicitor at Crown Solicitors Luke Cunningham Clere, Wellington. She is a former top graduate of the University of Canterbury Law School and former clerk to Justice French at the Court of Appeal.