Catherine Bladen (Juris Doctor ’18) had a very successful final year. She was awarded the ACT Women Lawyers’ Association Prize for Law Studies ; the George Knowles Memorial Prize; the Dean’s Juris Doctor Prize; and the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department and Australian Government Solicitor Prize.

“Most of the final year subjects were challenging, so the prizes were a nice surprise. They’ll help me remind myself in the future that hard legal questions can be worked through."

“I really liked that my final year electives, such as Restitution and Conflict of Laws, were areas that I knew absolutely nothing about to begin with, but are actually really important in practice. Class sizes were also smaller, allowing for more discussion with academics and other students."

“Professors Pauline Ridge and James Stellios were both fantastic lecturers who made dense material enjoyable and accessible.Senior Lecturer Pauline Bomball was a first-year lecturer who helped me feel part of the ANU community. Dr Anthony Hopkins turned what could be a dry subject, Evidence Law, into a really engaging one. His advice and diverse career expanded my knowledge of the types of career paths possible, and made me more excited for my future."

“Dr Skye Saunders was also a fantastic thesis supervisor whose encouragement helped me to back myself in my arguments, and beyond. All these academics go above and beyond for student learning, and made me so grateful I came to ANU.”

In 2017, Catherine received the inaugural Leslie Zines Constitutional Law Scholarship and spent 10 weeks at the Office of Constitutional Law at the Attorney-General's Department and the Office of General Counsel at the Australian Government Solicitor.

Catherine appreciated the generosity of the donors who supported her prizes and scholarship. In 2019 she will be undertaking an associateship at the Federal Court in Sydney, and enjoying study-free weekends.