The Charles Clark Inn of the American Inns of Court was founded in early 1989. Judge E. Grady Jolly of the 5th Federal Circuit was instrumental in establishing the Inn.
In December 1988, attorney Hal Freeland contacted Judge Jolly and nine other lawyers, judges, and law professors in the Jackson area about establishing an American Inn of Court for central Mississippi. Mr. Freeland was a private practitioner in Oxford, Mississippi, and one of the organizers of the William Keady American Inn of Court which had been established in northern Mississippi a few years before. This initial group contacted by Mr. Freeland knew that Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger in the late 1970’s desired to foster in the United States a movement patterned after the British Inns of Court system in order to improve the advocacy skills, professionalism, ethics, and civility of the American bench and bar. Mr. Freeland provided to the Jackson area group invaluable insights and details about how the William Keady Inn had been organized and how it was operating.
This core group enlisted the assistance of prominent practitioners, jurists, and scholars in the Jackson area with proven advocacy skills to serve as Masters of the Bench (“Benchers”), the senior most category in the Inn organization, who serve for unlimited terms. The Benchers then selected twenty-one less senior but nonetheless seasoned trial and appellate lawyers, with 5 to 15 years experience, to serve as the initial class of Barristers for limited terms.
Benchers and Barristers were selected to give the Inn a representative cross-section of courtroom expertise, to include civil and criminal practice, plaintiff and defense, trial and appellate, large and small firms, and diversity in age, race and gender. Federal judges in the Mississippi Southern District, Jackson Division, were invited to become active members. Judges representing every state court level were also selected. With the esteemed profile of this initial membership, invitations to join the Inn were highly valued from the outset. Judge Jolly was elected first president of the Inn.
Soon after the core leadership group of Benchers and Barristers had been formed, the Inn filled its ranks with Associates, younger lawyers with less than 5 years experience, and in close collaboration with the Mississippi College School of Law, Pupils were added, consisting of third year law students. Thus, the Inn reflected a broad cross-section of the legal community with senior lawyers, judges, and professors, experienced practitioners, younger lawyers, and law students. The MC School of Law agreed to provide administrative support for the Inn, and this partnership has continued throughout the Inn’s existence.
Judge Jolly endeavored, pursuant to Chief Justice Burger’s vision, to model the Charles Clark Inn after the British system, renowned for lively interaction and for mentoring by more experienced lawyers of younger practitioners. As Judge Jolly put it, the Inn was not intended to be just another Rotary Club. Instead, Judge Jolly promoted an environment where lawyers could learn from each other through six “Pupilage Groups” in which all membership levels are evenly distributed and with each Pupilage Group charged with preparing a scholarly program during the year which is the central feature of the Inn’s bi-monthly meetings. Judge Jolly was especially keen on giving younger lawyers the opportunity to hone their skills of thinking on their feet by challenging them with questions and provoking cogent extemporaneous remarks about issues presented during the meetings.
It did not take long for the membership to name their Inn for Charles Clark, the revered Chief Judge of the 5th Federal Circuit. Judge Jolly recalled that the famously modest Judge Clark was perhaps more exasperated than honored when informed that the Inn had been named for him. Poignant for the Inn was a program in late January 2011 honoring Charles Clark, which was organized and presented by his fellow jurists on the 5th Circuit, law partners, former law clerks, and family. Judge Clark was noticeably uncomfortable with all the attention but nonetheless appreciative of the stirring retrospective of his career. The program proved to be a fitting farewell. Judge Clark passed away five weeks after this program in his honor.
