James Gibson | Juris Doctor

“‘Arcane’ would be a diplomatic word to describe Australia’s common law system,” James jokes.

“The law was well beyond my grasp before I started the Juris Doctor. I couldn’t appreciate just how beyond me it was until I studied it.”

With assistance from the Victorian Bar, Justice Kenneth Hayne Scholarship, James was able to start studying the Melbourne Juris Doctor.

Now midway through his degree, James has benefited not only from the knowledge he has gained, but also from the opportunities he’s been granted. What he most wants to emphasise is the extent to which his studies have enabled him to give back to the community.

“My capacity to contribute has changed fundamentally. Despite only being halfway through my JD, the good I can do has expanded so much.”

Since starting his JD, he’s become a director of Naarm Law Students, which is a not-for-profit organisation that delivers community legal education to schools, universities and youth organisations. He’s also joined the Melbourne University Law Review and coordinated their Community Program, which aims to support community legal centres in Melbourne. That’s to name just a couple of his accomplishments.

“Legal education is transformative and you cannot appreciate how until you receive it. It benefits not just the individual, but those around them,” James says.

James expresses the gratitude he feels towards scholarship donor Justice Kenneth Hayne and others from the Victorian Bar:

“Many are inspired by your example to take up the law. Few can do so without support. With your generosity, more may live up to it. Certainly, I plan to.”