Gwyneth Elizabeth Bergman earns the 2024 Horace Harvey Gold Medal in Law

PHOTO CREDIT: Supplied, Roth and Ramberg

Gwyneth Elizabeth Bergman, ‘24 JD, has been honoured with the 2024 Horace Harvey Gold Medal in Law, the most prestigious accolade for a graduating JD student. 

“I was really honoured and happy to receive it. I’ve been a student for a long time and ending my academic career on such a high note is unbelievable. Getting this award was both a surprise and humbling,” she says. 

Bergman received her bachelor’s of music from McGill University in 2012. She went on to complete her master’s in political science at the University of Waterloo in 2016, and her PhD at Queen’s University in 2021.

Throughout her JD, Bergman sought opportunities to put the theory of law into practice. In her first year, she volunteered with Student Legal Services in the Trans ID clinic. She also worked as a summer student at Field Law LLP in 2022, and interned at the Office of the Judge Advocate General in 2024. She will begin articling at Field Law this June, and will clerk at the Court of Appeal of Alberta in 2025. 

There are many people she wants to thank for supporting her during her studies, including her husband, family and friends, professors, and her mentor, Kim Precht. She is particularly grateful to Prof. Eric Adams, who offered continuous encouragement. 

Bergman has been inspired not only by other women in the legal profession, such as former Chief Justice McLachlin and Justice Molloy, but also by the women who have shaped her life directly, including her mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law. “These women have done such incredible work in their communities and professions. I hope to live up to their examples,” she says. 

She also hopes, by advocating for women in law, to honour the memory of her grandmother-in-law, Ludmila Bartak, who practised law in the 1930s in Bratislava. At the time, she was one of the only women to do so. 

For herself, Bergman is passionate about mentorship and has volunteered her time to help other students navigate the challenges of law school. She hopes to continue that kind of mentorship throughout her career.