The chance to enter university with a professional head-start and a helping hand with the cost of your degree is every student's dream but will become a reality for one aspiring Bond University student following the announcement of the inaugural Clayton Utz Scholarship.

A joint initiative of Bond University and national law firm Clayton Utz, the Clayton Utz Scholarship will be awarded annually to an outstanding Year 12 student who is accepted into the University's law faculty.

The Clayton Utz Scholarship winner will be entitled to payment of half his or her tuition fees and will also undertake an internship at Clayton Utz.

The first Clayton Utz Scholarship will be awarded to a Year 12 student who is looking to start university studies in 2007 and who has shown not only outstanding academic achievement but also exceptional personal qualities including leadership and involvement in community and extra-curricular activities. The winner will be selected jointly by representatives of Clayton Utz and Bond University.

The Clayton Utz Scholarship is part of Bond University's new $10 million Corporate Scholarship Program which aims to identify outstanding Year 12 students and mentor them through a business-student partnership.

The Dean of Bond University's Law Faculty, Professor Duncan Bentley, said the Clayton Utz Scholarship was another significant milestone in the University's aim to connect outstanding students with Australia's most prestigious business and professional organisations.

"Bond University is delighted that Clayton Utz, as one of Australia's ─ and the world's ─ leading law firms, has agreed to participate in this exciting initiative," said Professor Bentley.

"That the Scholarship winner will have the opportunity to experience legal practice first-hand through an internship with Clayton Utz also sets this initiative apart as being of enormous value to the student from both a personal and career development perspective."

Clayton Utz's Brisbane partner-in-charge, Geoff Harley, said the firm was pleased to be associated with an initiative that would give an exceptional young student the chance to get a career head start.

"Clayton Utz has a long and proud tradition of employing young graduates who go on to have very successful careers in the law. We welcome the opportunity to contribute in a practical way to the personal and professional development of a future member of the profession."

Mr Harley, who has practised law for more than 35 years, will be taking a hands-on role in educating young lawyers of the future following his appointment as an adjunct professor at the University.