American Inns of Court are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students. Each Inn meets approximately once a month both to "break bread" and to hold programs and discussions on matters of ethics, skills, and professionalism.

History

Beginning in the late 1970s, Chief Justice of the United States

Chief Justice of the United States

The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...

 Warren Burger led a movement to create Inns of Court

Inns of Court

The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. All such barristers must belong to one such association. They have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional...

in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Although they are loosely modeled after the traditional English Inns, American Inns of Court do not include any real property. Instead, they are groups of judges, practicing attorneys, law professors and students who meet regularly to discuss and debate issues relating to legal ethics

Legal ethics

Legal ethics encompasses an ethical code governing the conduct of persons engaged in the practice of law and persons more generally in the legal sector.-In the United States:...

 and professionalism. American Inn of Court meetings typically consist of a shared meal and a program presented by one of the Inn's pupillage teams.

At the suggestion of Rex Lee, a pilot program was entrusted to Senior United States District Court Judge A. Sherman Christensen, who honed the idea into a feasible concept. The first American Inn of Court was founded in 1980 in the Provo/Salt Lake City area of Utah, and included law students from Brigham Young University. Within the next three years, additional American Inns formed in Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

In 1983, Chief Justice Burger created a committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States

Judicial Conference of the United States

The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial courts in the United States...

 to explore whether the American Inn concept was of value to the administration of justice and, if so, whether there should be a national organization to promote, establish and assist American Inns, and promote the goals of legal excellence, civility, professionalism and ethics on a national level. The committee reported to the Judicial Conference affirmatively on the two questions and proposed the creation of the American Inns of Court Foundation. The Judicial Conference approved the reports and, thus, endorsed the American Inn concept and the formation of a national structure.

In 1985, the American Inns of Court Foundation was formally organized.

General information

Looking for a new way to help lawyers and judges rise to higher levels of excellence, professionalism, and ethical awareness, the American Inns of Court adopted the traditional English model of legal apprenticeship and modified it to fit the particular needs of the American legal system. American Inns of Court help lawyers to become more effective advocates and counselors with a keener ethical awareness. Members learn side-by-side with the most experienced judges and attorneys in their community.

An American Inn of Court is not a fraternal order, a social club, a course in continuing legal education, a lecture series, an apprenticeship system, or an adjunct of a law school’s program. While an American Inn of Court partakes of some of each of these concepts, it is quite different in aim, scope, and effect.

American Inns of Court actively involve more than 25,000 state, federal and administrative law judges, attorneys, legal scholars and law students. Membership is composed of the following categories: Masters of the Bench—judges, experienced lawyers, and law professors; Barristers—lawyers with some experience who do not meet the minimum requirements for Masters; Associates—lawyers who do not meet the minimum requirement for Barristers; and Pupils—law students.

Most Inns concentrate on issues surrounding civil and criminal litigation practice, and include attorneys from a number of specialties. However, there are several Inns that specialize in criminal practice, federal litigation, tax law, administrative law, white-collar crime

White-collar crime

Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was...

, bankruptcy, intellectual property, family law, or employment and labor law.

The membership is divided into pupillage teams, with each team consisting of a few members from each membership category. Each pupillage team conducts one program for the Inn each year. Pupillage team members get together informally outside of monthly Inn meetings in groups of two or more. This allows the less-experienced attorneys to become more effective advocates and counselors by learning from the more-experienced attorneys and judges. In addition, each less-experienced member is assigned to a more-experienced attorney or judge who acts as a mentor and encourages conversations about the practice of law.

List of Chapters (by state)

All of the information in this section comes from the American Inns of Court Foundation. The list is a work in progress.

Alabama

• The Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
   Inn of Court
• The East Alabama American Inn of Court
• The Etowah County
  Etowah County, Alabama
  Etowah County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is from the Cherokee language, which means "edible tree". It is the center of the Gadsden Metropolitan Area which includes Etowah and Cherokee Counties. As of 2010 the population was 104,430. Its county seat is Gadsden...
  
   Chapter
• The Hugh Maddox American Inn of Court
• The Justice Pelham J. Merrill American Inn of Court
• The Madison County
  Madison County, Alabama
  Madison County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is a major part of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Paul W. Brock American Inn of Court
• The Wiregrass American Inn of Court

Alaska

• The Anchorage American Inn of Court

Arizona

• The Arizona Thurgood Marshall
  Thurgood Marshall
  Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Horace Rumpole
  Rumpole of the Bailey
  Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Lorna E. Lockwood
  Lorna E. Lockwood
  Lorna Elizabeth Lockwood was a Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. She was the first female Chief Justice of a state supreme court in the United States. In the 1960s she was almost nominated by President Lyndon Johnson to be the first female justice on the United States Supreme Court...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Morris K. Udall
  Mo Udall
  Morris King "Mo" Udall was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Arizona from May 2, 1961 to May 4, 1991...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Sandra Day O'Connor
  Sandra Day O'Connor
  Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...
  
   American Inn of Court

Arkansas

• The Henry Woods
  Henry Woods (Pennsylvania)
  Henry Woods was a United States Representative from Pennsylvania. Born in Bedford, he received a limited schooling, attending the subscription schools of Bedford County. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1792 and commenced practice in Bedford...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Judge William R. Overton
  William Overton (judge)
  William Ray Overton was a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.Overton was born in Malvern, Arkansas. He received a B.S./B.A. from the University of Arkansas in 1961, and an LL.B. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1964...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The W. B. Putman American Inn of Court

California

California has 37 chapter Inns

Colorado

• The Alfred A. Arraj American Inn of Court
• The Ben S. Wendelken American Inn of Court
• The Byron R. White American Inn Of Court
• The Judge William E. Doyle American Inn of Court
• The The Minoru Yasui American Inn of Court
• The Robert C. Rhone-Ava M. Brackett American Inn of Court
• The Thompson G. Marsh American Inn of Court

Connecticut

• The Oliver Ellsworth
  Oliver Ellsworth
  Oliver Ellsworth was an American lawyer and politician, a revolutionary against British rule, a drafter of the United States Constitution, and the third Chief Justice of the United States. While at the Federal Convention, Ellsworth moved to strike the word National from the motion made by Edmund...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Raymond E. Baldwin
  Raymond E. Baldwin
  Raymond Earl Baldwin was a United States Senator, the 72nd and 74th Governor of Connecticut.-Biography:Born in Rye, New York, he moved to Middletown, Connecticut in 1903 and attended the public schools. He graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown in 1916, and entered Yale University...
  
   American Inn of Court

Delaware

• The Delaware Bankruptcy
  Bankruptcy
  Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Delaware Pro Bono American Inn of Court
• The Melson-Arsht American Inn of Court
• The Richard S. Rodney American Inn of Court
• The Terry-Carey American Inn of Court

District of Columbia

D.C. has 12 chapters

Florida

• The Chester Beddell Inn of Court
• The William H Stafford Inn of Court

Florida has 32 other chapters

Georgia

• The Bleckley American Inn of Court
• The Charles Longstreet Weltner Family Law American Inn of Court
• The Chattahoochee American Inn of Court
• The Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court
• The Lamar
  Joseph Rucker Lamar
  Joseph Rucker Lamar was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court appointed by President William Howard Taft...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The William A. Bootle American Inn of Court

Guam

• The Pacific American Inn of Court (Hagatna)

Hawaii

• The Aloha American Inn of Court (Honolulu)
  (Affiliated with the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law)

Idaho

• The American Inn of Court CXXX
• The Eagle Rock American Inn of Court
• The John P. Gray American Inn of Court
• The Portneuf American Inn of Court
• The Ray McNichols American Inn of Court
• The Theron W. Ward American Inn of Court

Illinois

• The Richard Linn
  Richard Linn
  Richard Linn is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.-Education and Experience:...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Abraham Lincoln Marovitz
  Abraham Lincoln Marovitz
  Abraham Lincoln Marovitz was a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.- Early life and education :...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Chicago Lincoln American Inn of Court
• The Southern Illinois American Inn of Court
• The DuPage American Inn of Court
• The Jefferson American Inn of Court
• The Robert C. Underwood American Inn of Court
• The Lincoln-Douglas American Inn of Court
• The Chicago American Inn of Court
• Abraham Lincoln American Inn of Court

Indiana

Indiana has 9 chapters

Iowa

• The Blackstone American Inn of Court
• The C. Edwin Moore American Inn of Court
• The Dean Mason Ladd American Inn of Court
• The Dillon American Inn of Court

Kansas

• The Earl E. O'Conner American Inn of Court
• The Judge Hugh Means American Inn of Court
• The Sam A. Crow American Inn of Court

Kentucky

• The Louis D. Brandeis American Inn of Court
• The Salmon P. Chase American Inn of Court

Louisiana

Louisiana has 18 chapters

Massachusetts

• The Boston American Inn of Court, http://www.innsofcourt.org/inns/bostoninn/
• The Frank J. Murray American Inn of Court, http://www.innsofcourt.org/inns/fjmurrayinn
• The Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court, http://www.massinnofcourt.com/
• The Pioneer Valley American Inn of Court, http://www.innsofcourt.org/inns/pioneervalley
• The Suffolk University Law School Litigation American Inn of Court, http://www.suffolklitigationinn.org

Minnesota

• The Douglas K. Amdahl American Inn of Court
• The Warren E. Burger
  Warren E. Burger
  Warren Earl Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger had conservative leanings, the U.S...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Richard T. Oakes American Inn of Court
• The John E. Simonett
  John E. Simonett
  John E. Simonett was an attorney and associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was famous for his wit and thoughtfulness, characteristics reflected both in his judicial opinions, and in his writings and speeches. In 2007, he was named one of the 100 most influential attorneys in...
  
   American Inn of Court

Michigan

• The University of Detroit American Inn of Court
• The Oakland County Bar Association American Inn of Court
• The Centennial Chapter American Inn of Court
• The Gerald R. Ford American Inn of Court
• The Michigan State University College of Law
  Michigan State University College of Law
  The Michigan State University College of Law is a private law school located in East Lansing, Michigan which is affiliated with Michigan State University...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Thomas M. Cooley
  Thomas M. Cooley
  Thomas McIntyre Cooley, LL.D., was the 25th Justice and a Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, between 1864 and 1885. Born in Attica, New York, he was father to Charles Cooley, a distinguished American sociologist...
  
   American Inn of Court

North Carolina

• The Braxton Craven
  Braxton Craven
  Braxton Craven was a U.S. educator. He served as the second president of the institution that became Duke University from 1842 to 1863 and then again from 1866 to 1882. The institution was known as Union Institute from 1841 to 1851, Normal College until 1859, and Trinity College until 1924...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Chief Justice Joseph Branch
  Joseph Branch
  Joseph Branch was an American jurist who served as Associate Justice and then Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. He was a native of Halifax County, North Carolina and earned his law degree from Wake Forest University.Branch served in the state House of Representatives from 1947...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Chief Justice William H. Bobbitt
  William H. Bobbitt
  William Haywood Bobbitt , was an American jurist and Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Bobbitt was born in 1900 in Raleigh, North Carolina and earned his law degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Bobbitt was elected a Superior Court judge and served with...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Guilford American Inn of Court

Ohio

• The Potter Stewart
  Potter Stewart
  Potter Stewart was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.-Education:Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan,...
  
   American Inn of Court

Ohio has 7 other chapters

Oklahoma

• The Hudson Hall Wheaton American Inn of Court http://www.hudsonhallwheaton.com

Oklahoma has 5 other chapters

Pennsylvania

• The Benjamin Franklin American Inn of Court
• The Bucks County American Inn of Court
• The Charles F. Greevy, Jr American Inn of Court
• The Delaware Valley Environmental American Inn of Court
• The Donald E. Wieand American Inn of Court
• The Doris Jonas Freed American Inn of Court
• The Guy G. DeFuria American Inn of Court
• The Herbert B. Cohen American Inn of Court
• The Hon. John E. Stively, Jr. American Inn of Court
• The Hon. Amy Reynolds Hay American Inn of Court
• The James S. Bowman American Inn of Court
• The Jeremiah S. Black American Inn of Court
• The Judge Alexander F. Barbieri Workers' Compensation American Inn of Court
• The Justice Robert H. Jackson American Inn of Court
• The Justice William Strong American Inn of Court
• The Matrimonial American Inn of Court
• The Montgomery American Inn of Court
• The Ned J. Nakles American Inn of Court
• The Nicholas Cipriani American Inn of Court
• The Northwest Pennsylvania American Inn of Court
• The Temple American Inn of Court
• The University of Pennsylvania Law School
  University of Pennsylvania Law School
  The University of Pennsylvania Law School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Ivy League, it is among the oldest and most selective law schools in the nation. It is currently ranked 7th overall by U.S. News & World Report,...
  
   American Inn of Court
• The Villanova Law J. Willard O'Brien American Inn of Court
• W. Edward Sell American Inn of Court, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
  University of Pittsburgh School of Law
  The University of Pittsburgh School of Law was founded in 1895, and became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900...
  
  
• The Western Pennsylvania Bankruptcy American Inn of Court

Rhode Island

Roger Williams University School of Law

Roger Williams University School of Law

Roger Williams University School of Law is the only law school in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It is located approximately 18 miles south east of Providence, Rhode Island, in the town of Bristol. It was the first program established by Roger Williams University in 1993...

 is affiliated with two chapters of the American Inns of Court:

• The Edward P. Gallogly American Inn of Court
• The Roger Williams American Inn of Court

Utah

• The A. Sherman Christensen American Inn of Court (Provo and Salt Lake City)
  (Affiliated with the Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School
  J. Reuben Clark Law School
  The J. Reuben Clark Law School is a professional graduate school located in Provo, Utah at Brigham Young University. Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark, Jr.—former U.S. Ambassador, Undersecretary of State, and LDS Church General Authority—and its charter dean was former...
  
  )
• The Aldon J. Anderson American Inn of Court (Salt Lake City)
  (Affiliated with the University of Utah College of Law)

Washington

• The Honorable Robert J. Bryan American Inn of Court, Seattle University School of Law
• The William L. Dwyer American Inn of Court, Seattle University School of Law and University of Washington School of Law
  University of Washington School of Law
  The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington.The most recent 2012 U.S...
  
  
• The George & Donald Simpson American Inn of Court

External links

• American Inns of Court official site