An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges and lawyers. 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. Most Inns concentrate on issues surrounding litigation practice, and include attorneys from a number of specialities. 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.