3 Supreme Court Clerkships

A Supreme Court clerkship is one of the highest achievements for a law student in Canada.

We are delighted that three of our students have been selected for clerkships at the Supreme Court of Canada for the year 2017-2018! Victoria Luxford will clerk with the Chief Justice, Matthew Palmer with Justice Karakatsanis, and Sarah Chaster with Justice Wagner. 

This is a real testament to the calibre and talent of Victoria, Matthew and Sarah, who will be wonderful clerks.  It is also, for me, an indication of the strength of UVic Law students generally. I am constantly impressed by the depth of interest, commitment, talent, and contribution in each of our classes. Those qualities are evident in the many prominent accomplishments recognized in this news feed, including the large numbers of students who also clerk at the Federal Court and the provincial superior courts. But the capacity for high-quality analysis and far-reaching contributions is not restricted to those students. It extends throughout our school. That level of accomplishment augurs well for our students’ impact long into the future.

The success of Victoria, Matthew and Sarah means that, in the six years beginning with the 2012-2013 clerking year, twelve UVic Law graduates will have clerked at the Supreme Court, an average of two per year. This is a remarkable record. In the five years prior to this year, only five schools had placed more clerks at the Supreme Court of Canada than UVic Law:  McGill, Toronto, Osgoode, Ottawa Civil, and Ottawa Common – and the last three of those schools had placed only one more clerk than we had over that time (their 10 to our 9). Given the different size of the schools, and the Court’s need for clerks fluent in French and with knowledge of the Civil Law, this is an impressive indication of our students’ strength.

So, congratulations to Victoria, Matthew and Sarah for an amazing accomplishment!

Jeremy Webber

Professor and Dean