Former Berkeley Institute honours student Stephen Edwards has set his sights firmly on a legal career after being awarded a prestigious scholarship from law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman

Stephen, 18, is the recipient of the CD&P Legal Scholarship which is given to a Bermudian enrolled in a law degree course leading to a Commonwealth legal qualification and subsequent admission to the Bermuda Bar.

A former captain of the Bermuda National Under-18’s sevens rugby team, he will receive $30,000 a year for his three-year degree at the University of Sussex in England.

“It is not the amount of the scholarship that is important,” he said. “It is the prestige that comes with Conyers Dill & Pearman as one of the top law firms in Bermuda. Simply being recognised by a firm such as Conyers effectively opens doors for you.

“Financially it relieves a lot of pressure but there is now a different kind of pressure, to perform.”

Stephen is a recent graduate of Bellerbys College, Oxford, UK, an independent Sixth Form College that provides pre-university education to students from overseas countries.

While in Oxford he played fullback for the Gosford All Blacks rugby team and was awarded the ‘Young Player of the Year Award’.

CD&P has offered scholarships and bursaries for more than 30 years and annually gives more than $100,000. Since the inception of the awards the company, recently named as Chambers Offshore Law Firm of the Year, has given is $2.6 million.

David Astwood, the chairman of the Conyers’ Scholarship Committee and a director in the corporate department, said: “Stephen exemplified to the committee a high level of academic achievement, outstanding athletic ability and a tremendous desire and determination to succeed, qualities that made him an excellent candidate for the Conyers 2014 Scholarship Award.”

Director and Head of the Corporate department David Cooke, who was awarded the same scholarship in 1984, said: “I have known Stephen for a number of years. He worked hard at Berkeley and even harder while at Sixth Form College and I believe that his drive and determination can be an example for those coming after him.”

Stephen is currently a summer law student with Conyers where he is being mentored by Sophia Greaves and Victor Richards. He will start his degree in September.