Why Should You Join one of The Inns of Court?

An interesting question was posted on  TraineeSolicitor.co.uk which we have used as inspiration for today's post!
"Does anyone have any advice about which Inn of Court they would suggest to join and why"
We felt that this warranted a lengthier response, as anyone wishing to train for the Bar must join one of the four Inns of Court as they alone have the power to call a student to the Bar.

They are Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn.

We asked Matthew Mason, In-house Counsel at MTA Solicitors LLP, for a little more insight in to the common considerations when making this important decision and the history behind this tradition.

The Inns are principally non-academic societies which provide collegiate and educational activities and support for barristers and student barristers. They all provide the use of a library, lunching and dining facilities, common rooms and gardens. They also provide a number of grants and scholarships for the various stages on the way to becoming a barrister. As well as awards and scholarships, the Inns are able to offer advice to their student members, for example, assistance with completing CVs and application forms for the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) and for pupillage. Each Inn also runs advocacy training courses for their pupils. These vary in format and length and combine advocacy training with lecturers on particular areas of law or forensic skills.