Memorial awards provide support for law students
Awards established in memory of solicitor Pamela Walsh Peaker will give four Leeds law students the opportunity to join solicitors’ firms for valuable work placements.
The Pamela Walsh Peaker Memorial Prizes are to honour the memory of this well respected, dedicated and successful lawyer – a late partner of L Bingham & Co, Solicitors, Chancery Lane, London WC2.
The scholarship programme provides the students with eight-week summer work placements where they can gain valuable experience in private law – particularly in the area of claimants’ individual legal rights – allowing them to observe directly the practice of justice.
By giving the student the opportunity to immerse themselves in the business and legal practices of their host firm, the scholarships are aimed at encouraging career aspirations in these areas of law and enhancing the students’ future employability. They have a particular benefit to students who would otherwise have difficulty obtaining such career-enhancing work experience.
The four students selected for the Awards in 2013 are second year law students Louise Burgess from Bury, Lancashire; Bethan Gifford from Barnoldswick, North Yorkshire; Nichola Stephens from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, and Rana Begum from Keighley, West Yorkshire. They were selected from many excellent applicants.
Mr Antony Peaker chose the Law School at the University of Leeds for these awards as Pamela lived at Jack Royd, Halifax, enjoyed her time in Yorkshire and because he has family ties to the Leeds area.
He said: “Pamela was a lawyer by vocation. She had to overcome significant difficulties to realise her aim and this gave her a real empathy for the struggles of others. It also saw her generous in her help to those learning to practise the law. The Awards mean that, even after her passing, she will still be helping young people to do so.”
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