News Item

The New Zealand Law Foundation Ethel Benjamin scholarship for outstanding women lawyers has this year been awarded jointly to Holly Hedley and Bree Huntley.

The award honours New Zealand’s first woman barrister and solicitor, Ethel Benjamin, who was admitted in 1897. It supports postgraduate research in law that will protect and promote the legal interests of the New Zealand public.

Holly Hedley will study for her Masters of Law in Global Health Law at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Her studies will include topics of particular interest – the intersection between human rights and health law, especially the impact on women. Holly has a BSc/LLB(Hons) from the University of Otago and since graduation has been working in Buddle Findlay’s health law team.

Bree Huntley will undertake her Masters in Law at Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, specialising in administrative and constitutional law. She is interested in the reform of New Zealand’s public law related to delegated legislation. Bree has a BA/LLB(Hons), from the University of Auckland. She previously worked as a Clerk to the Chief Justice and is currently a barrister with Thorndon Chambers in Wellington.

The Law Foundation established the Ethel Benjamin Scholarship in 1997 to mark the centenary of the admission of Ethel Benjamin as the first woman barrister and solicitor in New Zealand. Since the centenary, the Law Foundation has awarded this scholarship annually to outstanding New Zealand women law graduates for post-graduate study. Thirty–six exceptional young women lawyers have benefited from receiving this scholarship to date. The award is worth up to $50,000.

Details of the award and previous winners can be found on the Foundation’s website.