Deadline: June 30, 2022
Applications are open for the Bennett Jones Future Leaders in Law Scholarship Program 2022. As part of their commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion in the profession, Bennett Jones LLP has established the Future Leaders in Law Scholarship Program which will provide financial support and mentorship to students enrolled in accredited Canadian law faculties.
Commencing in the 2022-23 academic year, three scholarships will be offered annually to provide financial assistance to incoming first-year law students who have a demonstrated interest in business law and identify as members of the Indigenous or Black communities, and/or are among the first generation of their immediate family to undertake post-secondary education. Recipients of the first-year scholarship are eligible for additional assistance in their second and third years of law school. In addition to financial assistance, the Program will provide mentorship and other career development opportunities to the scholarship recipients.
Scholarship
- Each of the three recipients will receive $10,000 for use towards their first-year tuition of a recognized J.D. or LL.B. program at a Canadian law school (the “First-Year Award”).
- Each recipient is also eligible to receive an additional $10,000 per year for use towards their second and third-year tuition of that same or other recognized J.D./L.L.B. program at an accredited Canadian law school (the “Upper-Year Awards”) provided the recipient continues to meet the eligibility criteria below.
- In addition to the Award(s), the recipient will also receive mentorship from both a Bennett Jones lawyer and law student as well as career development assistance from the Chief Legal Talent Officer and our regional Directors that oversee Student Recruitment and Programs. Recipients will also have the opportunity to attend various virtual and/or in-person networking and training events throughout the term of the scholarship.
Eligibility
To be awarded a First-Year Award, the successful applicant must:
- be entering their first year of full-time study at a J.D./L.L.B. program at an accredited Canadian law school;
- be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident;
- identify as a member of at least one of the following:
- Canadian First Nations, Métis or Inuit;
- African Canadian, African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino or other Black group; or
- First generation to complete or be in the process of completing post-secondary education (i.e., the student’s parents or guardians did not complete post-secondary education). “Post-secondary education” means college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma; university certificate or diploma below bachelor level; or a university degree (bachelor’s degree; university certificate or diploma above bachelor level; degree in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or optometry; master’s degree; earned doctorate); and
- demonstrate an interest in pursuing a future career in business law
To be awarded an Upper-Year Award, the successful applicant must:
- be entering their second or third year of full-time study at a J.D./L.L.B. program at an accredited Canadian law school;
- have received either a First-Year Award or an Upper-Year Award in the prior academic year; and
- have completed a full course load and maintained a minimum B minus average (or numerical equivalent) during the prior academic year.
Application
The deadline is June 30 of each calendar year for the First-Year Award and June 1 for the Upper-Year Award.
- Applicants for a First-Year Award must provide :
- A cover letter describing: (1) the applicant’s educational goals and career plan and how the financial assistance provided by a Bennett Jones LLP Future Leaders in Law Scholarship will help them achieve these goals; and (2) how or why the applicant, through their academic, work, extra-curricular and/or community involvement, is a strong candidate for the scholarship;
- Official transcripts from all university-level undergraduate and graduate programs, whether in Canada or abroad;
- At least one, but no more than two, reference letter(s) in support of the applicant’s academic, work, extra-curricular or community involvement, as may be referred to by the applicant in their single-page cover letter. The reference should not be from a family member or related person;
- All application materials should be sent to [email protected] by no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 30
- Applicants for an Upper-Year Award must provide:
- Official transcripts of their first-year law school grades by June 1 of their first-year and/or second year grades by June 1 of their second year, as applicable;
- Proof of continued enrolment as a full-time law student at a J.D./L.L.B. program at an accredited Canadian law school;
- All application materials should be sent to [email protected] by no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 1
For more information, visit Future Leaders in Law Scholarship.
