2026 Viscount Bennett Scholarship Recipients
The Law Society of Alberta is pleased to congratulate Allison Jandura and Joe Byram, this year’s recipients of the Viscount Bennett Scholarship.
The Viscount Bennett Scholarship is funded through a trust established by the late Right Honourable Viscount Bennett. It was put in place to encourage a higher standard in legal education, offered to support those interested in pursuing post-graduate studies in law. This prestigious accolade is awarded to individuals with an exceptional academic record and a clear dedication to contribute to their community through the practice of law.
Allison Jandura
It wasn’t until Allison neared the end of her undergraduate degree in biology that she began to consider a career in law. After completing her Master of Science in Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto, she decided to return to her hometown of Edmonton to attend the University of Alberta for her Juris Doctor (JD). She hoped that law would allow her to apply the skills she learned in science to questions about how to help people resolve their legal issues and more generally how we should understand the structure and function of our legal system.
Allison is now entering her second year of the Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) program at the University of Toronto, where she is studying the theoretical foundations of accessory liability in private law. “When someone intentionally helps or induces someone to commit a legal wrong, they may be held liable as an accessory”, Allison explains. “I’m especially interested in why we impose liability on a person for their involvement in another person’s private wrong and how our legal system generates and protects private rights.”
After graduating from her JD with the Horace Harvey Gold Medal in Law, Allison articled at the Court of Appeal of Alberta. She then completed her articles at McAllister LLP in Edmonton and practiced as a lawyer at Lenczner Slaght LLP in Toronto. She also clerked at Supreme Court of Canada in the Chambers of the Honourable Mary T. Moreau. Last year, she received an LLM at the University of Cambridge with First Class Honours.
Allison is grateful that she has been able to explore many different areas of law and learn from excellent lawyers, judges and academics since starting law school in 2018. She also values the support she has received in pursuing an academic career. She is excited to continue her research on accessory liability and appreciates the Viscount Bennett Scholarship for allowing her to focus on this work.
“The Faculty at the University of Toronto has a lot of strength in private law theory, and specifically in rights-based theories of private law. The community there has been very supportive and approachable, and I am fortunate to have Dean Christopher Essert as my supervisor. He has been a great mentor and is a leading scholar in private law.”
Although her work and studies have taken her outside Alberta, Allison looks forward to continuing to spend significant time in Edmonton and staying connected to the legal community there.
Joe Byram
Joe Byram is a former swimmer, advocate, lawyer, teacher and academic whose work is guided by what he calls “flexible curiosity.” A self-described “nerdy queer kid” from rural Alberta “who chose Speedos over hockey pads”, Joe grew up questioning the why behind his upbringing. Joe first enrolled in science before shifting his undergraduate focus to political science, where he explored political, moral, and normative questions. As a child Joe never imagined becoming a lawyer, but he had always been an avid reader and someone who enjoyed a good debate. After completing his arts degree, law began to feel like a practical next step.
Law offered Joe something familiar from swimming: structure, rules and a way to understand and apply complexity. As a former Canadian National Team member and medalist, he saw how vulnerable athletes can be, and how often lawyers were the ones advocating on their behalf. Law gave him a way to bring those interests together, helping him explore the intersections of politics, sport, health and advocacy, or as he puts it, “it’s not just law, it’s law and.”
Joe holds two LLMs, from the University of Calgary and Queen’s University, and a JD from the University of Alberta. He finds himself drawn to Alberta, it’s sense of awe, and to academic spaces that allow him to shape and direct his own learning. He is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Calgary in constitutional law and theory, with research focused on freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. His thesis grew out of his own early career experiences: seeing the language that once drew him into conservative politics later used against marginalized people, queer and gender-diverse communities. His research seeks to “bridge often polarised views on political issues to understand constitutional law in a way that embraces difference and links deep theoretical insight to the practical needs of substantive equality and social justice”. The commitment to bridging theory and practice also shapes how Joe sees his role as an academic.
Academic life, for him, is more than research. It is also mentorship, teaching and advocacy. Joe hopes to “help students find their passion in law, kind of as I did eventually, but maybe shortcutting it for them a bit.” Ultimately, he wants to be a relevant academic: humble enough to learn from students, peers and the broader community, while sharing his own knowledge generously.
The Viscount Bennett Scholarship gives Joe time and space to pursue the careful thinking his research requires. It also eases the financial pressure of choosing an academic path, a path that comes with real opportunity costs. For Joe, the award is also legitimizing, a reminder that, as he puts it, “ok, I can do this.”