Cambridge family law student prize winners

In 2016/17 several prizes were awarded in relation to the study of Family Law at the Faculty.

Sylvie Armstrong was the winner of the 2016/2017 University of Cambridge’s John Hall Prize for the best paper in Family Law (Tripos). She was also awarded a studentship by the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL); you can read her report on her time as an intern in Florida where she was hosted by IAFL Fellow Melinda Gamot.

On winning the prize Sylvie said:

"I absolutely loved studying family law this year - the course and department are both fantastic so I'm thrilled to receive the John Hall prize and can't wait to start my dissertation next year! I'm also hugely looking forward to undertaking the IAFL studentship this summer, under which I will be spending 2 weeks in Florida with a specialist family law firm, shadowing their work and seeing how the law works in a different jurisdiction. Both awards are incredible, and I'm so thankful to everyone for all their help this year".

John Eldridge was the recipient of the University of Cambridge's Mills & Reeve Prize for the best paper in Comparative Family Law & Policy (LLM).

John writes:

"Studying Comparative Family Law and Policy on the LLM has been a fantastic experience. Prior to coming to Cambridge I had no real expertise in family law - indeed my background was predominantly in commercial law, a field I had worked in and taught in Australia. As such I was slightly apprehensive about taking up its study for the first time at graduate level. Though I faced a very steep learning curve, the course was incredibly rewarding. The instructors were inspiring and engaging, and we were encouraged to focus on challenging and controversial questions. There was a great deal of scope for independent reading and research. Though the Cambridge exam system is very rigorous, I felt that the family law seminars left me well-prepared to tackle the questions and demonstrate my understanding. The receipt of the Mills and Reeve Prize is a great honour, and has encouraged me to continue to pursue my newfound interest in family law."

Esther Cheah won the University of Cambridge’s CMS Prize for the highest dissertation mark in Part II.

Esther said:

"I chose to write a dissertation as part of the Family in Society seminar, because it would allow me to go beyond doctrinal legal analysis and take an interdisciplinary approach to legal issues. I also wanted an opportunity to dig deeper into policy debates that I had been introduced to on the Family Law course in Part IB. On both these counts, I was not disappointed: in my dissertation, I was able to incorporate behavioural psychology, an area of personal interest, into my analysis of cohabitation law and policy. This was challenging, but ultimately rewarding and exciting: I ventured far beyond the Law library, into the Faculties of Criminology and Philosophy, and even the Business School! My supervisors were extremely helpful and supportive, and ensured that my ideas were comprehensively developed, yet kept within manageable bounds. Receiving the CMS Prize for the highest dissertation mark in Part II is deeply humbling, and has given me the confidence to pursue further studies in Family Law and interdisciplinary approaches to law."