A Lancaster University Professor of Law is to receive a top award from the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA).

The SLSA announced that Professor David Sugarman has been awarded the 2025 Prize for Contributions to the Socio-Legal Community.

This prestigious annual prize honours an individual who has made an exceptional and enduring contribution to the socio-legal community. ?

It celebrates those whose sustained efforts have enriched the field of socio-legal studies and helped to strengthen, support and inspire students, teachers, scholars and legal practitioners.

Nominators cited Professor Sugarman’s prolific and diverse scholarly output, his leadership, mentorship and collaborative working, and his vast contribution to modern socio-legal historical studies.

One noted that Professor Sugarman was ‘the first to draw on sources from culture, economics, social and political sciences to augment his work’ which has ‘huge depth and range – the legal profession, legal literature, company law’.

Another nominator added to the list: ‘legal education, European anti-discrimination law, women’s rights and gender equality, law and literature, law and the visual and legal life writing’.

And for another nominator, Professor Sugarman’s work ‘sets lawyers and their lives in wide socio-economic and political context and his long career exemplifies the highest virtues of collaboration and support in the socio-legal community’.

A Professor Emeritus of Law at Lancaster University School of Law, Professor Sugarman’s research engages with law, history, politics and society.

It focuses on how socio-economic forces shape law and how law and lawyers shape people’s lives.

He is a Senior Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at London University and a Senior Associate, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Oxford University.

A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of Social Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Legal History, Professor Sugarman has held Visiting Professorships in Canada, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the USA.

He established and directed Lancaster University’s Centre of Law and Society, the first such centre in England and Wales.

He has also advised on policy reform and legal development across the UK and internationally, including the European Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Justice, the EU Parliament Women's Rights Committee and NGOs.

Professor Sugarman said: “I have long believed that law can only be understood in its larger historical, social, cultural, political and ethical context, and in the light of its operation in practice.

“Socio-legal studies have inspired many of us seeking to break from a narrow tradition that assumed that law is overwhelmingly preoccupied with legal doctrine, and I am delighted to receive this award.”

Professor Bryan Clark, who heads Lancaster University Law School, added: “I am delighted to celebrate this well-deserved recognition with David. He has made outstanding contributions to the socio-legal field throughout a fantastic career and remains a very valued member of the Law team here at Lancaster University.”

Professor Sugarman will receive his prize from SLSA Chair Smita Kheria at the association’s annual conference next year.