Wade Wright Wins 2010-2011 Viscount Bennett Fellowship

OTTAWA – Wade Wright of Sarnia, Ontario has been selected from among a field of 44 Canadian legal scholars to be the 2010 recipient of the Canadian Bar Association Viscount Bennett Fellowship for graduate legal studies.

The 35-year-old Sarnia native initially studied music, completing a Masters in Musicology at the University of Western Ontario before turning his talents to law. A very strong student, Mr. Wright was awarded the gold medal when he graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2003 with an LL.B. to acknowledge his outstanding achievement - the highest cumulative standing over all three years of law school. He also won the Right Honourable Paul Martin scholarship to read law at the University of Cambridge, where he completed his LLM. He practiced law with Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto from 2005 to 2006, and served as law clerk to Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin at the Supreme Court of Canada the following year. Since the fall of 2007, he has worked towards his doctorate, serving as an Associate in Law at Columbia Law School in New York. His assignments saw him teach legal research and writing to first year law students, and American law to foreign trained LL.M students. With the Viscount Bennett Fellowship, he will complete his doctorate in law, the J.S.D.

“My research focus is co-operative federalism in the division of powers decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada,” he explains.”I am writing three major articles. The first is entitled: Facilitating Intergovernmental Dialogue: Judicial Review of the Division of Powers in the Supreme Court of Canada. The second and third papers will drill more deeply into the issues of federalism review and will expand into the cases and literature of the United States.” Mr. Wade plans to return to Canada to join the ranks of academe.

In addition to his academic achievements, Mr. Wade found time to give back by mentoring first – year students at Osgood Hall Law School, and volunteering at the poverty law clinic. While practicing in Toronto, he played a leadership role in involving the legal community in fund raising for the Daily Bread Food Bank. He also continued to pursue his love of music, as a member of both the Amadeus Choir and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

The CBA Fellowship was established under the terms of a trust by former Prime Minister and CBA President Viscount Bennett. The first Fellowship was awarded in 1946. Valued at $40,000, the Fellowship is awarded annually to a Canadian student to encourage high standards of legal education, training and ethics.

The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.

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