The Inns of Court
Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court. (Later, there will be some mention of the many lesser Inns, the Inns of Chancery, which no longer exist).
The Inns of Court are ancient unincorporated bodies of lawyers which for five centuries and more have had the power to call to the Bar those of their members who have duly qualified for the rank or degree of Barrister-at-Law. With the power of call goes a power to disbar or otherwise punish for misconduct, a power which has had to be exercised only infrequently.
In modern times, much of the process of education for call to the Bar and of discipline has been carried out by joint bodies of the four Inns; but the four Inns - Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray's Inn, to put them in their customary order - remain distinct, as friendly rivals, each with its own property, duties and functions.
