Scholarship for Graduate Legal Studies

The $20,000 Law Society Scholarship encourages and financially assists a law graduate to complete a full-time program of graduate legal studies that will benefit the student, the province and the legal profession in BC.

Graduating law students and law graduates of the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria or Thompson Rivers University are eligible to apply for the scholarship, as are other law school graduates who can show a real or substantial connection to BC. Applicants must demonstrate outstanding academic and other qualifications.

Selection criteria

The Benchers award the Law Society Scholarship, on recommendation of the Credentials Committee based on the following criteria:

• academic standing;
• positive social contributions, such as volunteer work;
• intention to practise in British Columbia after completing graduate studies;
• financial need; and
• proposed graduate work in terms of its importance or significance.

How to apply

An eligible applicant may apply by submitting:

• a letter of application setting out the details of your academic career to date and proposed plans for graduate study;
• official transcripts of academic institutions attended; and
• three letters of recommendation: one letter from the Dean of the law school from which the applicant graduated or is about to graduate and two letters from professors of that law school.

The application letter (including the applicant's email address and phone number) and accompanying materials should be mailed to:

Lesley Small
Senior Director, Credentials, Professional Development & Practice Support
Law Society of British Columbia
800 – 845 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC  V6B 4Z9

Terms

• The scholarship may not be offered in a given year and will be awarded only if there is a highly qualified applicant.
• The scholarship must be used in the year it is awarded. A recipient may accept other scholarships and awards up to an amount not exceeding the tuition of the graduate program in which he or she enrols, or such other amount as the Credentials Committee may determine.
• A student who is awarded the scholarship must report on his or her use of the scholarship and provide a copy of the relevant work.

What is the deadline for submission?

All documents must be submitted to the Law Society no later than April 30 of any given year.

For more information, contact the Senior Director, Credentials, Professional Development & Practice Support.

2025 recipients

Clare C. Benton and Vanessa Udy

Clare C. Benton (she/her) received her Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia in 2010 and has practiced as a criminal litigator in British Columbia for the past 14 years. Beginning in September 2025, she will pursue a Master of Laws (LL.M.) at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, while on leave from her role as Senior Counsel with the Department of Justice Canada. 

Her LL.M. research will explore how to effectively address gender-based bullying, discrimination, and harassment within the legal profession, with a focus on the regulatory frameworks governing lawyers in British Columbia. Drawing on her lived experiences as a woman in law and years of practice, Clare aims to identify meaningful and practical solutions to these persistent challenges.

Clare founded the Barristers’ Lounge Peer Engagement Group in 2022, a safe and supportive forum for DOJ BCRO counsel who experience gender-based marginalization in their work. This initiative offers a safe space for counsel members to support and empower each other.

Vanessa Udy (she/her or they/them) is a PhD candidate in her fifth year of the Law & Society program at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law. She began her legal career in Quebec in 2009 and was called in BC in 2018. She previously practiced at Woodward & Company LLP, where she advised First Nation governments and Indigenous-owned businesses in negotiation with the provincial government, financial institutions and industry on matters involving Aboriginal and treaty rights, regulatory matters, economic development projects, financing transactions and settlement trusts. 

Her doctoral research, undertaken in collaboration with the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN) in Atlin, BC, focuses on Tlingit law and the constitutive principles of relationality and balance. This work supports TRTFN’s governance revitalization and addresses gaps in the academic literature on Indigenous legal orders. 

Vanessa has also contributed to Indigenous legal research with the Indigenous Law Research Unit on water law projects with the Lower Similkameen Indian Band and Cowichan Tribes. She previously served on the Equity & Diversity Committee, and assisted in conducting research in the impact of the Law Faculty’s Amicus tutor program. She is actively involved in service through serving on the UVic Law’s Graduate Program Committee, volunteering with the Lawyer’s Assistance Program, and as a member of the Island Health Human Research Ethics Board.