Justice and welfare: Lady Hale and the journal of social welfare and family law

In 1972 the Legal Action Group was founded with the aim of bringing about more active intervention by lawyers in welfare issues. The arrival of this ‘new kid on the block’ aroused the interest of Sweet and Maxwell in bringing together and stimulating the interest of both academics and practitioners in law and social policy with a series of short text books on ‘Welfare and Society’ beginning with Mental Health in 1976, 1 followed by Parents and Children in 1977, by Brenda Hale and Roger Smith’s Children and the Courts in 1979. The next suggestion was the possibility of a journal to be edited by a lawyer and a social policy academic to encourage debate and research, and to support the development of teaching and qualifications in Social Welfare. Brenda, then teaching in Manchester, responded with enthusiasm to the suggestion. She was due a sabbatical term which, after some debate, was granted in order to set up the Journal of Social Welfare. A great deal of hard work was required, but the results were a triumph. Brenda with typical modesty remains almost invisible in the public record. But this chapter may help to set the record straight in acknowledging her central role in the foundation and the continuing development of what is now the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law where she remains an active, effective and contributing member of the editorial advisory board. The Journal of Social Welfare edited by Brenda Hale with Margaret Heywood, BA, Director of the Training Course for Social Workers, Extra Mural Department, University of Manchester and published by Sweet and Maxwell, produced its first issue in 1978. The editorial asks “Why another law journal? Why another social work journal?“ and goes on to explain that: