The scholarship will be open to second year undergraduate law students in TCD, including students on the Higher Education Access Route or the Disability Access Route to Education schemes, mature students and students who face barriers in participating in third level education.

Michael Jackson, managing partner at Matheson, said: “A key focus of Matheson’s diversity and inclusion commitment is to pro-actively address the issue of social mobility. We believe that initiatives to support students who face barriers in participating in third level legal education are an important way of ensuring greater accessibility to careers in law and a more diverse and inclusive profession.

“Matheson is proud to partner with Trinity College Dublin to launch the Matheson Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship in furtherance of this important aspect of our Diversity and Inclusion Commitment, which we have named our Cara Commitment in honour of our late partner, and Trinity graduate, Cara O’Hagan.”

The recipient of the scholarship will receive a place on Matheson’s summer internship programme, a financial contribution of €5,000 for each remaining academic year of their undergraduate degree, an assigned mentor from Matheson to support them through their university journey, and access to the firm’s library and online learning platform.

The first recipient of the scholarship will participate in the firm’s internship programme in June 2019.