Ben Ogden

Ben Ogden studied at Hertford College, completing his Law with Studies in Europe (German) degree in 2008, and qualified as a solicitor with Allen and Overy in 2012. Tragically, a few months later, Ben was killed in the Nepal air disaster on 28 September 2012.

Whilst at Hertford, Ben stood out as a warm, funny and charming young man. Early on he revealed his trademark cheeky grin and tutorials were characterised by laughter. He was an excellent lawyer, a fantastic citizen and ambassador for the college.

Ben was committed to pro bono work. He volunteered with the London Legal Support Trust and LawWorks, charities that aim to fundraise for and provide free legal help to individuals and groups who cannot afford to pay. At Battersea Law Centre, Ben was involved with fundraising and undertook a course to help them with their website. After the London riots, he helped someone whose business was damaged and was able to secure £30,000 in compensation for them. He also worked as a volunteer at Christchurch School in Spitalfields as part of their reading scheme for children with learning difficulties.

It is a source of particular pride to Ben’s family that he was honoured with the Attorney General’s Special Award for his pro bono contribution. This award was presented to his family at a reception at the Speaker’s House in Parliament on 6 November 2012.

The Ben Ogden Memorial Fund

This endowed fund, developed with Ben’s family, will be an enduring testament to Ben’s commitment to pro bono work. Each year we will give up to £1,000 to a Hertford Law student (undergraduate or graduate) to support participation in a project involving pro bono activities in the UK or abroad, with a preference for legal pro bono activity or another charitable activity wherein students use their developing expertise.

We were delighted to raise the required £15,000 to establish this fund at the end of 2014, thanks especially to Ben’s father who walked 100 miles through the South Downs to raise sponsorship funds.

Why a travel fund?

There is an unmet need for this kind of financial support. In recent years, Hertford Law undergraduates have spent time in Africa and Asia working for charities and NGOs, using their developing expertise to help others. In Ben’s memory, and in the tradition of Hertford’s ethos of open access, we do not want financial need to be a barrier to any Hertford undergraduate in undertaking these projects.

You can read about the great experiences that the recipients gained thanks to the fund below:

“In the summer break of my second year at Oxford I undertook an internship with African Prisons Project Uganda. The project has done major work in the Luzira maximum security prisons. The bulk of their work focuses on training prisoners to become auxiliary paralegals in order to build a legal clinic inside the prison, a feet that has never been accomplished before. My work consisted of teaching a select few of said prisoners Public Law as part of a qualifying English law degree from the University of London. In doing so, I spent over 50 hours, over the course of five weeks, in both the men’s and women’s prison, preparing the students for exams in October. The project’s work aims at affecting major change in the community, a large number of the students who are released begin work at APP immediately after. For me personally, the experience was immensely valuable from an academic, but especially from an interpersonal perspective. Paying for accommodation, flights, and living would have meant a huge financial burden. Therefore, I am incredibly thankful for being awarded this fund, it played an invaluable part in making this experience a reality for me.”

– Sebastian Bell (Law, 2017)

Rhiannon Britt received a grant from the Ben Ogden Memorial Fund to support her field office internship with International Justice Mission (IJM) from September 2015. IJM is a non-profit organisation that works to transform the justice system in countries where people have been let down by it, operating in countries all over the world to rescue people from human rights abuses such as forced labour slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, illegal detention, police brutality and illegal land seizure.

“Recently I spent three months working as an unpaid intern for the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT). The Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) were established in 2001 by the United Nations and the Cambodian government and are a completely unique hybrid tribunal of international and national lawyers. Since its establishment, the ECCC has been faced with funding problems. The internship program has therefore been crucial in allowing its ongoing operation. As one of two interns in a team of seven people I was given high quality work and able to get fully involved with the case. I attended court, prepared for the examination of expert witnesses and took an active role in drafting appeals, responses and replies to be filed at court. This was an experience that taught me a lot and one that I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from.”

– Annie Birch (Law with LSE, 2008)

“At the end of my second year at Oxford, I undertook an internship with Lawyers Without Borders in the USA, giving me an opportunity to explore the type of work I could do outside of private practice. As well as needing to understand US law very quickly, I was conducting research on Kenyan, Tanzanian and Liberian law. I was managing projects and working with law firms from New York and London on programmes designed to improve legal training and education of basic legal rights in several developing countries. I financed the internship by working and I received a travel grant from Hertford and the Oxford Union. However, this did not cover the cost of flights. Supporting this fund will make these types of opportunities more accessible, and it is a wonderful way to celebrate Ben’s life, his love of travel and his desire to make a difference in people’s lives using his legal skills.”

– Charlotte Bates (Law, 2007)

Increasing the fund

We’re delighted with the success of this fund, and will continue accepting donations to this fund in order to increase the amount we can award every year. Donations can be made online, or you can contact us for a donation form (Development Office, 01865 279428).