The American Inns of Court was the product of a discussion in the late 1970’s among the United States members of the Anglo-American exchange of lawyers. Chief Justice Warren E. Berger and Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit J. Clifford Wallace were among those members. These discussions eventually lead to a pilot program being entrusted to Senior United States District Court Judge A. Sherman Christensen. Judge Christensen made their idea into a feasible concept.
The first American Inn of Court was founded in 1980 in the Provo/Salt Lake City area of Utah. It included law students from Brigham Young University. Additional Inns were formed in Utah, Mississippi, Hawaii, New York and Washington, D.C. within the next three years.
In 1983, Chief justice Burger created a committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Their task was to explore whether the American Inns concept was of value to the administration of justice and, if so, whether there should be a national organization to promote, establish and assist in their mission. The committee endorsed the concept and the formation of a national structure.
The American Inns of Court Foundation was formally organized in 1985.
