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Young Bell Gully lawyer chosen for UK scholarship
Bell Gully solicitor James Caird will soon join a select group of young lawyers to get a first-hand look at the inner workings of London's Inns of Court and the United Kingdom court system.
He has been chosen as one of New Zealand's two Pegasus scholars for 2006. The Pegasus Scholarship Trust was established in 1987 by Lord Goff, a Law Lord in the House of Lords and the Privy Council, to build links between the legal professions in countries operating under the common law system. It offers scholarships to English barristers to live and work overseas and around 30 have visited New Zealand under the scheme.
In return two New Zealand litigation practitioners, who have been in practice for five years or less, are annually granted the opportunity to work in barristers' chambers in London for up to two months.
James Caird is a fourth year solicitor in the litigation department in Bell Gully's Auckland office. James was encouraged to apply by partner Murray Tingey, for whom James works in commercial and insolvency litigation, and fellow litigation partner Ian Gault, New Zealand's first Pegasus scholar. James was selected for the scholarship by a panel headed by Supreme Court Judge and former Solicitor-General, Hon Justice McGrath.
Says James: "This is a fantastic opportunity to gain exposure to the English barristerial and court system which would not otherwise be available to New Zealand lawyers. I am really looking forward to working with and learning from some of the UK's leading barristers."
James will spend an intensive period over October and November at two different barristers' chambers in Lincoln's Inn and the Inner Temple where he will be involved in research and assisting barristers to prepare cases for court. He will get the opportunity to attend conferences and visit courts in London, as well as potentially in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
James returns to the Bell Gully team in early 2007.
Bell Gully partner Ian Gault was working as a judge's clerk when he was selected as the first New Zealander to win the Pegasus scholarship in 1988. He studied at Cambridge and then spent time in Lord Goff's former chambers and at international law firm Clifford Chance before returning to New Zealand.
"It was a fantastic and memorable opportunity and I still keep in touch with people I met while I was there," says Ian.
"James is a talented young lawyer and a well-deserved Pegasus winner. I have no doubt he will be enriched by the experience and on his return the legal profession will also gain from his knowledge of the practical working of the English system and his enduring links with lawyers there."
