American Inns of Court Foundation

American Inns of Court (AIC) 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 Warren Burger led a movement to create Inns of Court in the United States. 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 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, Mississippi, Hawaii, New York and Washington, D.C.

In 1983, Chief Justice Burger created a committee of the Judicial Conference of 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, 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 Inn of Court
• The East Alabama American Inn of Court
• The Etowah County Chapter
• The Hugh Maddox American Inn of Court
• The Justice Pelham J. Merrill American Inn of Court
• The Madison County 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 American Inn of Court
• The Horace Rumpole American Inn of Court
• The Lorna E. Lockwood American Inn of Court
• The Morris K. Udall American Inn of Court
• The Sandra Day O'Connor American Inn of Court

Arkansas

• The Henry Woods American Inn of Court
• The Judge William R. Overton 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 American Inn of Court
• The Raymond E. Baldwin American Inn of Court

Delaware

• The Delaware Bankruptcy 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 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 American Inn of Court
• The Abraham Lincoln Marovitz 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 American Inn of Court
• The Richard T. Oakes American Inn of Court
• The John E. Simonett 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 American Inn of Court
• The Thomas M. Cooley American Inn of Court

North Carolina

• The Braxton Craven American Inn of Court
• The Chief Justice Joseph Branch American Inn of Court
• The Chief Justice William H. Bobbitt American Inn of Court
• The Guilford American Inn of Court

Ohio

• The Potter Stewart American Inn of Court

Ohio has 7 other chapters

Oklahoma

• The Hudson Hall Wheaton American Inn of Court [1]

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 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
• The Western Pennsylvania Bankruptcy American Inn of Court

Rhode Island
Roger Williams University School of Law 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)
• 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
• The George & Donald Simpson American Inn of Court

External links

• American Inns of Court official site