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 and lawyers. Each Inn meets approximately once a month, both to "break bread" and to hold programs and discussions on matters of ethics, skills and professionalism.
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 AIC 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 20,000 state, federal and administrative law judges and attorneys. Membership is composed of the following categories: Masters of the Bench -- judges and experienced lawyers who participate in the Inn indefinitely; Barristers -- lawyers with five or more years experience who join the Inn for two years; and Associates -- less experienced lawyers who join the Inn for one year.
Most Inns concentrate on issues surrounding 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 "teams", with each team consisting of members from each membership category. Each team conducts one program for the Inn each year. Team members get together informally outside of monthly Inn meetings to allow the less experienced attorneys to become more effective advocates and counselors by learning from the more experienced attorneys and judges.