Scholar begins epic drive after being awarded a First

  • July 15, 2011
Scholar begins epic drive after being awarded a First

Sam Walker wins a First in his Law master's and sets off on Mongolia adventure.

A Gates scholar has graduated with a first in his Law master’s course and plans to take up a post as a law clerk at Canada’s Surpreme Court of Justice.

Sam Walker [2010] did his LLM in International Law with his thesis on the philosophy of international law, specifically the lawfulness of killing in war. Not only did he get a First, but he was ranked second in his year group. His director of studies Jo Miles says this “fully vindicates the award of his Gates scholarship”.

He says he doesn’t think he would have been able to come to Cambridge without the Gates scholarship and adds that he benefited hugely from being a member of the Gates community “by meeting so many diverse and fascinating people, attending great events, and making lasting friends”.

Before he takes up his new one-year post in Canada as law clear to the Honourable Justice Morris Fish, he plans to drive a Nissan Micra from London to Mongolia with a group of friends to raise money for Christine Noble Children’s Foundation charity for underpriveleged children in Mongolia and Vietnam and “for the adventure”.

This is not his first road-trip experience. He has also biked across the US, driven across Canada and done a bus trek through Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

Sam, who has previously worked in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo and represented refugees and new immigrants at legal aid clinics in Kampala and Montreal, says he hopes eventually to do a PhD as he would like to teach.

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