Now in its third year, the annual bursary honours the memory of late Matheson partner Tim Scanlon.

Mr Taaffe is a fourth-year law with economics student at the University of Limerick and wrote an essay examining the topic “The Impact of AI on Corporate Governance - Opportunities and Risks for Boards?”, which was chosen as the winning submission.

He was awarded a €5,000 bursary; a place on Matheson’s summer internship programme in the corporate department; and, in appreciation of Mr Scanlon’s love for the arts, a piece of art by Irish artist Diana Copperwhite.

Matheson managing partner Michael Jackson said: “On behalf of Matheson, I would like to congratulate Benedict for this special accomplishment.

“Innovation is one of our core values, and we are continuing to evolve the services we deliver to our clients — not only through the digital legal services provided by our digital services group and the legal expertise provided by our cross-functional digital economy group, but across all of our practice areas and business services functions.

“Businesses are constantly changing and innovating in today’s corporate landscape, requiring the most up-to-date thinking and creative solutions from their legal advisors. At Matheson, we are committed to developing the next generation of legal professionals and through this bursary, we are delighted to be able to give students the platform to showcase their legal creativity and ideas.”

Nicola White, learning and development director, added: “Congratulations to Benedict on winning this year’s Tim Scanlon Corporate Bursary with his fantastic essay. Benedict’s submission demonstrates the high quality of talent among today’s young students, which we at Matheson are dedicated to supporting.

“We offer top class training and development to everyone at Matheson, and our student and graduate programmes are designed to equip our young talent with the necessary skills. We are delighted to welcome Benedict to Matheson for the summer internship programme and supporting him on his legal career journey.”

Mr Taaffe said: “Winning the Tim Scanlon Corporate Law Bursary has been inspiring for me, it is both an affirmation of the work I have done and a catalyst for my future aspirations.

“I would like to sincerely thank Matheson for this opportunity; the bursary and the many facets of Matheson’s careers programme are a testament to their innovative, inclusive outlook.”