American Inns of Court (AIC) are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges and lawyers. Each Inn meets approximately once a month, both to "break bread" and to hold programs and discussions on matters of ethics, skills and professionalism. The purpose of the Inn is to provide less experienced practitioners with the opportunity for sustained interaction with experienced attorneys and judges. This is accomplished through monthly meetings at which the Barristers and Associates interact with and receive instruction in procedure and trial practice from the senior members of the Inn. A strong emphasis is placed on professionalism, ethics and civility. The goal of the Inn is to create a lasting, permanent mechanism to enable senior members of the bar and bench to pass on to younger members of the bar the higher standards and technical skills necessary to enhance the practice of law by those in the trial community. Regular monthly meetings of the Inn are supplemented by regular meetings of smaller subgroups called teams. The Inn is composed of Associates, attorneys with one to five years of experience, Barristers, attorneys with five or more years experience, and Masters of the Bench, attorneys and judges with recognized experience and expertise as trial advocates. Associates are invited to join the Inn for one year, Barristers for two years, and Masters of the Bench for life. Every past member of the Inn is placed on a roster of alumni and is invited to continue attending programs after the conclusion of their term, on a first-come, first-serve basis. American Inns of Court actively involve more than 20,000 state, federal and administrative law judges and attorneys. Membership is composed of the following categories: Masters of the Bench; judges and experienced lawyers who participate in the Inn indefinitely, Barristers; lawyers with five or more year’s experience who join the Inn for two years, and Associates; less experienced lawyers who join the Inn for one year. Douglas Amdahl Inn of Court is the Minneapolis chapter affiliated with the American Inns of Court. Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben is proud to have four trial attorneys as members of this elite organization. They are: Paul E. Godlewski, Mark H. Gruesner, Alicia Sieben-Ploeger, and Courtney Lawrence |