LCAN, the Law Careers Advice Network, primar aims was to promote and enhance understanding in the student population in schools, further and higher education institutions about the opportunities available to those who wish to pursue a career in law.

About LCAN

Inns of Court

There are four Inns of Court – Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray's Inn – all based in the same corner of London. Students must join an Inn before they commence the vocational stage of training. The Inns provide collegiate activities, support for barristers and student members, advocacy training and other continuing professional development opportunities. Above all, the Inns provide a great deal of valuable financial assistance for the various stages of becoming a barrister.

 

The Inns provide the mechanism by which people become barristers, known as 'Call to the Bar'. Students are eligible to be called on completion of the Bar Vocational Course (BVC). Before they can be called to the Bar, they must attend 12 qualifying sessions at their Inn, which consist of collegiate or educational activities (often combined with dinners) in the form of lectures, residential courses, moots or debates and which give students the opportunity to meet with practising barristers. Special Education Days are held for those studying the BVC outside London. However, Call to the Bar does not entitle a student to practise as a barrister. In order to do that they must have completed pupillage at either the self-employed or employed Bar.

 

As indicated above, completion of the 12 qualifying sessions can be achieved in a number of different ways:

  • Weekends either in the Inn or at a residential centre such as Cumberland Lodge;

Education Days (primarily for out of London students);

Education Dinners (with lectures or talks);

Domus Dinners (when students and seniors dine together);

Social Dinners (such as Grand Night or student guest nights or dinners at the providers).

The weekends count as three sessions, the days as two sessions and Call Night counts as one session.

Each Inn runs advocacy training courses for their pupils. These vary in format and length and combine advocacy training with lectures on particular areas of law or forensic skills.

Additionally, each Inn has student societies and supports involvement in debating activities which range from internal events to inter-Inn, national and international competitions. The students organise their own social events through their Inns' student association and some Inns also support sporting societies.