Te Pae Tawhiti Postgraduate Scholarship for Toilolo Leilani Taula
Toilolo Leilani is pursuing a LLM in the USA. Her studies will focus on customary and common law in the jurisdictions of Samoa and the USA. She intends to examine the relationship between those legal systems and how it differs between jurisdictions.
Borrin Foundation Te Pae Tawhiti Postgraduate Scholarship
About Toilolo Leilani
Toilolo Leilani Taula graduated from Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons). She is a former president of the Pasifika Law Students’ Society and went on to work as the Pasifika Engagement Advisor to the Law Faculty at her University. Since then, Toilolo has worked as a Judges’ Clerk in the Wellington High Court and as a Crown prosecutor in Manukau. She also has the privilege of being on the Executive Committee of the Pacific Lawyers’ Association. As both a New Zealand lawyer and a Samoan Matai (chief), Toilolo has a keen interest in the relationship between customary legal systems and the common law.
Outside of her work, Toilolo spends much of her time writing and performing music and released her first single in 2023. Later that year, she was also nominated for the “Young New Zealander of the Year” award for her support of Pasifika success in law.
What Toilolo Leilani is studying
Toilolo will use the award to undertake a Master of Laws specialising in comparative and customary law. Her dissertation will focus on customary and common law in the jurisdictions of Samoa and the USA. It will examine the relationship between those legal systems and how it differs between jurisdictions. Toilolo hopes her work will contribute to a discussion about what we can learn from one another in developing legal systems that work for people with different lived experiences.
Scholarship amount
$50,000
“I am so grateful to the Borrin Foundation for their support of my research. I am excited to return home with new learnings to share, and for the opportunity to show others overseas the different ways that systems can work together to support a community.”
– Toilolo Leilani Taula