Introduction

A first generation of socio-legal scholars, whose sustained and collective efforts helped the discipline to flourish, recognised the value and potential of a social scientific approach to the study of law and legal phenomena. This collection of essays acknowledges and celebrates the contributions of one member of that first generation of scholars, Michael Adler. Throughout his career, Mike Adler championed the importance of socio-legal studies. Through both his teaching and research, he pushed forward the socio-legal agenda, particularly within Scotland, where he spent his career. He led by example, demonstrating through his own research the necessity of understanding law in its social contexts, and the importance of interdisciplinarity. Through his teaching, he encouraged and trained others to do likewise. In this introductory essay, we offer a bird’s-eye view of Mike’s contributions to the success of socio-legal studies as an intellectual movement in the UK. We focus, first, on his teaching, before going on to examine some of the key themes and questions that animated his own research, situating them in relation to the essays that populate the remainder of this collection of essays, and focusing throughout on the depth and breadth of Michael’s influence on the development of the field of socio-legal studies.