I was surprised to learn that the United States also has an Inns of Court Surprising considering the US has a fused profession, but what surprised me more was the 1) sheer number of the Inns (dozens in each state) and 2) the informal nature of them.
Inns of Court exist of couse most famously in England and Wales and they call students to the Bar. All Barristers are members of an Inn. I myself am a proud member of the Honourable Society of the Lincoln’s Inn., the best Inn that there is.
What are the fucntions of the Inns in the US? Do they call people to the Bar? Do they have the educational roles that the Inns have in England?
You might look at the “General Information” tab of the website you cited to. I don’t know much about them, and won’t likely be joining (if I were invited, it’d be to the one here in Cincinnati; not terribly helpful when I will be practicing in New York), but they seem to be honorary organizations for litigators. They invite distinguished folks in to give talks on topics of interest, and so on.
ETA: Specifically addressing your questions, they have no role in admission to the bar. They do serve an educational purpose (for practicing and future litigators, on topics of litigational interest), but as I’m not familiar with the function of Inns in the UK, I can’t say if it’s analogous.
No, they have nothing to do with admission to the bar. They’re groups of lawyers, judges, & law students that meet to discuss legal issues and hold social events like dinners.
American Inns of Court are a club of lawyers of various ages of experience that meet once a month for dinner and an educational presentation. I imagine it is not anything like what I see on Rumpole of the Bailey, which is where it is referred to as a law firm where people work. I cannot imagine Americans working in the same firm on opposite sides of the case, unless it is just renting office space from a common landlord.
Remind me to write againts that! Inns are not that at all!!! What the Inns of Court are is explained thus. The Inns are as much educational institutions that train future Barristers (though that role has been delegated a lot now).
BTW Barristers work in Chambers not firms. And yes it is an important distinction see below
So do lawyers in England and Wales. Barristers on the other hand are self employed tenants in a Chambers pay the rent and share libary facilities and clerks. There is no conflict of interest!
In the U.S., we don’t have “Barristers.” All lawyers receive similar training, at a law school, take the same Bar Exam to be admitted (the Multistate Bar Exam as well as any state exam required specifically by their state + the Ethics exam) and are entitled to practice any aspect of the law.
As described. Primarily social with an educational bent. Actually, I’d never heard of such a thing until this thread. I think you might be overpercieving their prevalence. According to that Inns of Court website you linked to, American Inns of Court actively involve more than 25,000 state, federal and administrative law judges, attorneys, legal scholars and law students.