Inns of Court

Inns of Court. Legal institutions of medieval origin situated in London and responsible for the education of barristers. By the 14th cent. the bar was organized, like the guilds, as an association of the members of the Inns of Court. They were first used as accommodation and were a cross between the college, the club, and the trade union. Originally around twenty Inns were known to have existed of which only four survive: Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn, and Lincoln's Inn. The Temple was the London residence of the knights Templar until their dissolution and was let to lawyers in the mid-14th cent. Gray's Inn was formerly the town house of the Lords Gray of Wilton and Lincoln's Inn is thought to have belonged to Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln. In the 15th cent. the Inns gradually assumed responsibility for the education of students and today anyone wishing to become a barrister must first join one of the Inns. They are unincorporated bodies controlled by their senior members known as masters of the bench or benchers. When students are considered qualified for the profession they are ‘called’ to the bar by their Inn and entitled to practise in the higher courts of law.

Richard A. Smith