Master of the Bench
Most people with an interest in the law will have heard of the Inns of Court. They may know that there are four Inns, they may know their names: Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple. They may also know that anyone who is going to become a barrister has to join an Inn of Court and has to eat so many dinners there. (Having said that, not everyone has heard of the Inns of Court. Some years ago I had a credit card rather embarrassingly cancelled because I had paid a bill to Lincoln's Inn on it. Someone within the card providing company scrutinising the card transactions jumped to the conclusion that this was a payment made in a pub, which presumably they thought was called Lincoln's Inn. Since they could not get hold of me on the telephone (I was in court) they assumed that the card had been stolen and promptly cancelled it without notice. The first I knew of this was when I was at the supermarket checkout after work and was told that my card had been cancelled after they tried to ascertain why it was not working. (I suspect everyone else in the rapidly building queue assumed that despite the apparently expensive suit I had run out of money on my credit card). Disaster was averted by the fact that fortunately I had my cheque book and card with me. It does show however that it would be foolish to assume that everyone has heard of the Inns of Court.
There are essentially three categories of member within the Inn. You join as a student. Once you have qualified by passing the requisite bar exams and tests, going through being formally called to the Bar having eaten your 12 dinners, you are a barrister member. If you are lucky you will be elected as a Bencher, also known as a Master of the Bench. These are the people who essentially govern the Inn. If you ever visit the Inn these are the people who dine on top table. The activities of the Inn are run through a mixture of the work of Benchers on committees supervising the various activities, and the permanent staff of the Inn.
I have just been elected a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn and so will very shortly going through the traditional procedure of being admitted as a Bencher. A new Bencher is introduced by being dragged into Hall one lunchtime. The idea is that the prospective Bencher is protesting gently about being admitted. I have still not got to the bottom of this tradition. It may be that it is designed to show that barristers are modest and not ones to seek fame and fortune or glory. I'm not quite sure how much chance this has of been generally accepted. There may also be the fact that (apart from parting with a cheque for £1500 on election) every Bencher becomes responsible for all the debts of the Inn, which is a more hypothetical than real risk having regard to the financial position of the Inn, although theoretically could prove problematical should the Inn embark upon a series of wild and imprudent ventures. (Rather less likely than England winning the football World Cup any time soon).
Once elected one thing benchers try and do, along with barristers, is to encourage and advise students and help them find their feet in their attempt to become a practising barrister. I hope to follow in this commendable tradition.