Ottawa, June 16, 2025 - The Canadian Bar Association’s Fellowship Committee has selected Jeanne Mayrand-Thibert to receive the 2025-2026 Viscount Bennett Fellowship for her graduate legal studies.
Jeanne Mayrand-Thibert is a graduate of McGill University’s BCL/JD Program and is currently a law clerk for the Honourable Malcolm Rowe at the Supreme Court of Canada. The Fellowship will help support her as she pursues graduate legal studies this fall at the University of Toronto and works towards her goal of pursuing an academic career in law.
The Viscount Bennett Fellowship is awarded annually to a Canadian law student to encourage high standards of legal education, training and ethics. Worth $25,000, The Fellowship was established under the terms of a trust created by former Prime Minister and CBA President Viscount Richard Bedford Bennett. The first Fellowship was awarded in 1946.
Quote
“I am immensely grateful to have received the CBA Viscount Bennett Fellowship. It will allow me to pursue research with leading experts on criminal law theory and gender-based violence at the University of Toronto. My research will explore the public nature of criminal law, the role of communities in promoting safety and justice, and how these avenues might better serve the needs of victims. In that way, I hope to contribute to the CBA’s mission of promoting access to justice.”
- Jeanne Mayrand-Thibert
“Jeanne Mayrand-Thibert distinguished herself through her academic excellence, commitment to the legal profession, and alignment with the CBA’s core values. She will be pursuing graduate legal studies at a Canadian university with the goal of launching a career in academia. The Fellowship will provide meaningful financial support as she pursues her professional and scholarly ambitions. Jeanne represents the qualities we seek in a CBA ambassador: integrity, intellectual curiosity, and dedication to advancing legal education.”
- CBA Viscount Bennett Fellowship Selection Committee
Quick facts
- Jeanne Mayrand-Thibert earned her BCL/JD at McGill University where she received numerous awards for high standing in her studies, including the Elizabeth Torrance Gold Medal and the John W. Cook Prize in Criminal law.
- Before entering legal studies, she completed a double-honours bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology at McGill University.
- She is currently a law clerk for the Honourable Malcolm Rowe at the Supreme Court of Canada.
- In her first year of law studies, Mayrand-Thibert co-founded a legal clinic aimed at providing free legal information to people experiencing homelessness, and she volunteers with the Communitas organization, a support space for formerly incarcerated individuals.
- She was an inaugural fellow at the Law Commission of Canada from 2023-2024 and was a student clerk for the Honourable Patrick Healy and the Honourable Christine Baudouin at the Quebec Court of Appeal from 2021-2022.
- The Viscount Bennett Fellowship carries a value of $25,000.
Related links
Viscount Bennett Fellowship
Canadian Bar Association
About the Canadian Bar Association
The CBA is dedicated to support the rule of law and improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 40,000 lawyers, notaries in Quebec, judges, law teachers and law students from across Canada are members.