Professor Emeritus David Sugarman FRHistS, of Lancaster University’s Law School, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the American Society for Legal History (ASLH) for his “scholarly distinction and leadership in the field”. The award was presented at the annual conference of the ASLH in Boston, USA, on 23 November 2019. In the words of the Society's website:

“Election as an Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Legal History is the highest honour the Society can confer. It recognizes distinguished historians whose scholarship has shaped the broad discipline of legal history and influenced the work of others. Honorary Fellows are the scholars we admire, whom we aspire to emulate, and on whose shoulders we stand.”

Professor Sugarman is the first legal historian of modernEngland (as distinct from medieval or early modern England) to be so recognised. The award recognises his pioneering role in opening-up and developing an inter-disciplinary legal history of modern England that addresses the interplay between law, politics, economics, society and culture (so-called modern socio-legal history), and his dedication to mentoring and supporting other scholars.

The American Society for Legal History is the largest international academic society in the field of legal history. It was founded in 1956 to foster interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching in the broad field of legal history. Whilst based in the United States, its purview and membership are international in scope. The Society sponsors a quarterly journal, Law and History Review, and a book series, Studies in Legal History, both of which are published for the Society by Cambridge University Press. The Society holds its Annual Meeting each fall.