Inns of Court

American  

plural noun

1. the four voluntary legal societies in England Lincoln's Inn, the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, and Gray's Inn that have the exclusive privilege of calling candidates to the English bar after they have received such instruction and taken such examinations as the Inns provide.

2. the buildings owned and used by the Inns.

---

Inns of Court British  

plural noun

1. (in England) the four private unincorporated societies in London that function as a law school and have the exclusive privilege of calling candidates to the English bar See Lincoln's Inn Inner Temple Middle Temple Gray's Inn

---

Example Sentences

Working with the Inns of Court College of Advocacy, Kama Melly is helping to introduce a training course for all barristers working on cases involving trauma from December.

From BBC

A manic energy is apparent, a compulsion to relate the character’s experience with the precision of a member of London’s Inns of Court.

From Washington Post

That copy-now in the library of the Middle Temple, one of the Inns of Court in London—had previously been owned by his friend and Shakespeare’s, Ben Jonson.

From Literature

A century ago in the United Kingdom, the first female law students were admitted to the Inns of Court.

From BBC

In 1768, the philosopher Abraham Tucker described meeting a friend at the Inns of Court: this “man of gravity” spent a full quarter of an hour unable to decide which way he’d like to go for a walk.

From The Guardian