Matthew Rhodes has won an excellence award from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners for an essay on trusts.

The Carey Olsen litigation attorney scored one of the top marks globally for his essay “Sham and Illusory Trusts”.

The awards celebrate exceptional achievement, recognising the highest achievers across all Step qualifications.

The winners are top-scoring students who have achieved distinction level through either the essay or exam route, in addition to the highest-scoring graduates across each of the Step diplomas.

Keith Robinson, partner and head of trusts and private wealth at Carey Olsen, said: “To have achieved distinction level in a Step essay is a great achievement, let alone to have scored one of the top marks globally.”

Mr Rhodes said the Step essay route was a great opportunity to hone one’s skills and delve closer into interesting trust litigation issues.

“I look forward to working to full Step qualification with the completion of my subsequent essays,” he said.