Simon Roberts (1941-2014) was Professor of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). A renowned legal anthropologist, his early career included two years' teaching in Malawi in the 1960s and three years as Adviser on Customary Law to the Botswana Government (1968-71). He authored the seminal work Order and Dispute: An Introduction to Legal Anthropology (1979, with a second edition in 2013), a study of law, order and dispute settlement and how they are conceptualised and socially founded. His analysis drew inter alia upon field research among the Kgatla in Botswana and later encouraged his work on issues in dispute processes in jurisdictions such as England and Wales. His most recent book was A Court in the City: Civil and Commercial Litigation in London at the Beginning of the 21st Century (2013), based on his ethnographic research at the Mayor's and City of London Court. This study examined the work of the court in sponsoring dispute settlement. He continued to teach ADR at the LSE long after retirement. Simon also served on the Lord Chancellor's family law advisory board which assisted in preparations for the Family Law Act (1996) and was General Editor of the Modern Law Review from 1988 until 1995.

In 2011, Simon was elected an Honorary Fellow of the LSE.ong after retirement. Simon also served on the Lord Chancellor's family law advisory board which assisted in preparations for the Family Law Act (1996) and was General Editor of the Modern Law Review from 1988 until 1995. In 2011, Simon was elected an Honorary Fellow of the LSE.