Law Publishers in Europe (LPE) came into being in 1983 on the initiative of some of the best known European law publishers. Today, it has 12 members.
LPE's purpose is to offer professional people, academics and scholars, libraries, business concerns, public and private bodies, timely information about the most significant publications available on legal questions, and to provide quick delivery at favourable conditions for the purchaser.
From 2009-2011, LPE wrote out the Franz Stein Memorial Award dedicated to the memory of bookseller and publisher Franz Stein (1944–2005). Being endowed with €6,000, the award aimed at European law students and was assigned to the best essay in a biennial competition. It postulated an original manuscript consisting of 8,000 words maximum. An independent jury chose the winning essay which was granted publication in one of LPE’s law journals. In 2009, the topic for the contending essays was "How Should the EU Ensure the Human Rights Conformity of Targeted Sanctions its Member States have to Implement Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolutions?". In 2009, Katherine Lim (United Kingdom) and Gerhard Holley (Austria) shared the award.
For 2011, the topic was "The New Common Commercial Policy: Who has the power to conclude investment protection treaties post-Lisbon? – The EU and/or its member states". The award was bestowed to Viktoriya Petrikova (Bulgaria).