INNS OF COURT

four institutions in the City of London, established in the Middle Ages, of which all barristers are members and at which students of law are trained. They consist of Gray’s Inn, Lincoln’s Inn, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple. It is thought that they began as hostels for people studying common law during the Middle Ages, when it was not possible to study the subject at universities. The equivalent institution in Scotland is the Faculty of Advocates.