The Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) is offering scholarships to young lawyers to attend the IPBA's Annual Meeting and Conference in Beijing on 20-23 April 2007.

The scholarships are open to lawyers under the age of 35 and who have been in practice for less than five years.  Preference is given, but not limited, to applicants who could not otherwise attend the conference, for example, because of personal, family or financial circumstances and/or because they are working for a small firm which could not afford to send them to the conference.

Simpson Grierson Partner Denis McNamara, who is the New Zealand jurisdictional council member on the IPBA, encourages young lawyers in New Zealand to apply for a scholarship.  "It is an outstanding opportunity to see how the IPBA operates and take advantage of the networks and other numerous benefits it can bring to lawyers practising or with an interest in the Asia Pacific region."

Last year, Chapman Tripp solicitor Meaghan Wilkinson was awarded a scholarship and attended the IPBA Meeting and Conference in Bali, Indonesia.  "The conference was an amazing opportunity to meet lawyers from other jurisdictions and learn more about foreign legal systems.  Most attendees at the Bali Conference were from Asian and Pacific nations but there were also a number from Europe, USA and South America."

The IPBA also offers Scholarships for Lawyers from Developing Countries.  The scholarships are open to indigenous lawyers from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Mongolia or the Pacific Islands.

The IPBA Scholarship programme was established to honour the memory of M.S.Lin of Taipei, one of the founders and a Past President of the IPBA

Applications must be received by the IPBA Secretariat in Tokyo by 31 October 2006.

For further information and application forms, visit:

http://www.ipba.org/about/scholarship.htm