The Society annually awards prizes for outstanding research that helps to enrich the field of legal history though the scholarly study of the role of law across time, around the world, and with a wide variety of methods.
Anne Fleming Article Prize
The Anne Fleming Article Prize is a joint prize of the the ASLH and the Business History Conference (BHC). It is awarded every other year to the author or authors of the best article published in the previous two years in either Law and History Review or Enterprise and Society on the relation of law and business/economy in any region or historical period. Learn MoreCriteria
Best article on the relation of law and business/economy published in the previous two years.
Amount
$250
Deadline
N/A
Jane Burbank Global Legal History Article Prize
The Jane Burbank Article Prize in global legal history will be awarded annually to the best article in regional, global, imperial, comparative, or transnational legal history published in the previous calendar year. Submissions may address any topic or period, and may focus on case studies in which the analysis relates to broader processes or comparisons. Learn MoreCriteria
Best article in global legal history published in the previous year.
Amount
$250
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Mary L. Dudziak Digital Legal History Prize
The Dudziak Prize, named in honor of Mary L. Dudziak, a leading scholar of twentieth century U.S. legal history and international relations as well as a digital history pioneer, is awarded annually to an outstanding digital legal history project. These projects may take the form of either traditionally published peer reviewed scholarship or born-digital projects of equivalent depth and scope. Learn MoreCriteria
Excellence in digital legal history.
Amount
$250
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Sutherland Prize
The Sutherland Prize, named in honor of the late Donald W. Sutherland, a distinguished historian of the law of medieval England and a mentor of many students, is awarded annually, on the recommendation of the Sutherland Prize Committee, to the person or persons who wrote the best article on the legal history of Britain and/or the British Empire published in the previous year. Learn MoreCriteria
Best article on British legal history published in the previous year.
Amount
$500
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Surrency Prize
The Surrency Prize is awarded annually for the best article published in the Society’s journal, the Law and History Review, in the previous year. The prize is named in honor of Erwin C. Surrency, a founding member and first president of the Society and for many years the editor of its former publication, the American Journal of Legal History. Learn MoreCriteria
Best article published in the Society’s journal, the Law and History Review, in the previous year.
Amount
$500
Deadline
N/A
John Phillip Reid Book Award
The John Phillip Reid Book Award is awarded annually for the best monograph by a mid-career or senior scholar, published in English in any of the fields defined broadly as Anglo-American legal history. The prize is named for John Phillip Reid, the prolific legal historian and founding member of the Society, and made possible by the generous contributions of his friends and colleagues. Learn MoreCriteria
Best monograph by a mid-career or senior scholar, published in English in Anglo-American legal history.
Amount
$2,500
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Peter Gonville Stein Book Award
The Peter Gonville Stein Book Award is awarded annually for the best book in non-US legal history written in English. This award is designed to recognize and encourage the further growth of fine work in legal history that focuses on all regions outside the United States, as well as global and international history. Learn MoreCriteria
Best book in legal history (written in English) outside the field of US legal history, published during the previous calendar year.
Amount
$500
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Cromwell Dissertation Prize
The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Dissertation Prize is awarded annually to the best dissertation in any area of American legal history, including constitutional and comparative studies, although topics dealing with the colonial and early national periods will receive some preference. The author of the winning dissertation receives $5,000. Learn MoreCriteria
Best dissertation in American legal history completed in the past year.
Amount
$5,000
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Cromwell Article Prize
The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Article Prize is awarded annually to the best article in American legal history published in the preceding calendar year by an early career scholar. Articles published in the field of American legal history, broadly conceived, will be considered. Learn MoreCriteria
Best article in American legal history published by an early career scholar.
Amount
$5,000
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Cromwell Book Prize
The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Book Prize is awarded annually to the best book in the field of American legal history by an early career scholar. The prize is designed to recognize and promote new work in the field by graduate students, law students, post-doctoral fellows and early career faculty. Learn MoreCriteria
Excellence in scholarship in the field of American legal history by an early career scholar.
Amount
$5,000
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Max Planck-ASLH Dissertation Prize for European Legal History in a Global Perspective
The Max Planck-ASLH Dissertation Prize for European Legal History in a Global Perspective will honor exceptional dissertations on topics in European legal history in global perspective and presented for PhD or JSD degrees awarded in the previous calendar year. Topics may include European legal interactions with people or places outside Europe, legal processes spanning Europe and other world regions, and developments in legal theory closely related to imperial, transnational, or trans-regional trends. Learn MoreCriteria
Ph.D./JSD
Amount
€2,500/month for 3 months, plus limited travel costs and insurance
Deadline
June 1, 2025
Become a Member
The ASLH supports our members in many ways, including offering a variety of awards and fellowships, and funding of proposals and projects. In many ways, including offering a variety of awards and fellowships.
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