Serjeant-at-law

A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of

Although the Serjeants are extinct as a class of advocates, the title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall is still given to the judge generally known as the Common Serjeant of London.

The history of Serjeants-at-Law goes back to within a century of the

A serjeant of the law, ware and wise,
That often hadde ben at the parvis,
Ther was also, full rich of excellence.
Discreet he was and of great reverence,
He sened swiche; his wordes were so wise,
Justice he was ful often in assise,
By patent, and by pleine commissiun;
For his science, and for his high renoun,
Of fees and robes had he many on.[4]

Firm evidence for existence of legal serjeants in England dates from the reign of Henry III. As such it is the oldest royally created order; the next is the

During the 16th century the Serjeants-at-Law were a small, though highly respected and powerful, elite. There were never more than ten alive, and on several occasions the number dwindled to one; William Bendlowes bragged that he had been "the only Serjeant-at-Law in England" in 1559.^[11] Over these 100 years, only 89 Serjeants were created. At the time they were the only clearly distinguishable branch of the legal profession, and it is thought that their work may have actually created barristers as a separate group; although Serjeants were the only lawyers who normally argued in court, they occasionally allowed other lawyers to help them in special cases. These lawyers became known as outer or "utter" barristers (because they were confined to the outer bar of the court); if they were allowed to act they had "passed the bar" towards becoming a Serjeant-at-Law.^[12]

Despite holding a monopoly on cases in the Court of Common Pleas, Serjeants also took most of the business in the Court of King's Bench. Although required to make the Common Pleas their principal place of work, there is evidence of Serjeants who did not; one, Robert Mennell, worked entirely in the North of England after his creation in 1547 and was not known in Westminster, where the Common Pleas was located.^[13] This was also a time of great judicial success for the Serjeants; since only Serjeants could be appointed to the common law courts, many also sat in the Exchequer of Pleas, a court of equity.^[14] This period was not a time of success for the profession overall, however, despite the brisk business being done. The rise of central courts other than the Common Pleas allowed other lawyers to gain advocacy experience and work, drawing it away from the Serjeants, and at the same time the few Serjeants could not handle all the business in the Common Pleas, allowing the rise of barristers as dedicated advocates.^[15]

The decline of the Serjeants-at-Law started in 1596, when

Every new Queen's Counsel created reduced the Serjeants in importance, since even the most junior QC took precedence over the most senior Serjeant. Although appointments were still made to the Serjeants-at-Law, the King's Serjeant and the King's Ancient Serjeant, and several Serjeants were granted patents of precedence which gave them superiority over QCs, the Victorian era saw a decline in appointments. The rule that all common law judges must be Serjeants was circumvented: anyone chosen to be a judge would be appointed a Serjeant, and immediately thereafter a judge.[17] In 1834 Lord Brougham issued a mandate which opened up pleading in the Court of Common Pleas to every barrister, Serjeant or not, and this was followed for six years until the Serjeants successfully petitioned the Queen to overturn it as invalid.^[18]

The Serjeants only enjoyed their returned status for another six years, however, before Parliament intervened. The

The last English serjeant at the bar, the "rather undistinguished" Frederick Lowten Spinks, died in 1899.^[21] The last English serjeant was Nathaniel Lindley, Baron Lindley, who had been made a serjeant so that he could be appointed a judge of the Common Pleas. He died in 1921.

The equivalent Irish rank of

Serjeant's Inn was a legal inn restricted to Serjeants-at-Law. It operated from three locations, one in Holborn, known as Scroope's Inn, which was abandoned by 1498 for the one in Fleet Street,^[22] which was pulled down during the 18th century,^[23] and one on Chancery Lane, pulled down in 1877.^[24] The Inn was a voluntary association, and although most Serjeants joined upon being appointed they were not required to.^[25] There were rarely more than 40 Serjeants, even including members of the judiciary, and the Inns were noticeably smaller than the Inns of Court.^[26] Unlike the Inns of Court, Serjeant's Inn was a private establishment similar to a gentlemen's club.^[27]

The Inn on Fleet Street existed from at least 1443, when it was rented from the Dean of York. By the 16th century it had become the main Inn, before being burnt down during the Great Fire of London.^[28] It was rebuilt by 1670, but the end finally came in 1733. The Fleet Street Inn had fallen into a "ruinous state", and the Serjeants had been unable to obtain a renewal of their lease. They abandoned the property, and it returned to the Dean.^[29]

The property on Chancery Lane consisted of a Hall, dining room, a library, kitchens and offices for the Serjeants-at-Law. This Inn was originally known as "Skarle's Inn" from about 1390, named after John Scarle, who became Master of the Rolls in 1394. By 1404 it was known as "Farringdon's Inn", but although the Serjeants were in full possession by 1416 it was not until 1484 that the property became known as Serjeant's Inn.^[30] Newly promoted Serjeants had to pay £350 in the 19th century, while those promoted solely to take up judicial office had to pay £500.^[31] The Hall was a large room hung with portraits of various famous judges and Serjeants-at-Law, with three windows on one side each containing the coat of arms of a distinguished judge. Around the room were the coats of arms of various Serjeants, which were given to their descendants when the Inn was finally sold.^[32] When the Fleet Street Inn was abandoned, this location became the sole residence of the Serjeants.^[33] With the demise of the order after the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873, there was no way to support the Inn, and it was sold in 1877 for £57,100. The remaining Serjeants were accepted into their former Inns of Court, where judicial Serjeants were made Benchers and normal Serjeants barristers.^[34]

The process of being called to the order of Serjeants-at-Law stayed fairly constant. The traditional method was that the Serjeants would discuss among themselves prospective candidates, and then make recommendations to the

serve the King's people as one of the Serjeants-at-law, and you shall truly counsel them that you be retained with after your cunning; and you shall not defer or delay their causes willingly, for covetness of money, or other thing that may turn you to profit; and you shall give due attendance accordingly. So help you God.^[37]

The new Serjeants would give a feast to celebrate, and gave out rings to their close friends and family to mark the occasion. The King, the Lord Chancellor and other figures also received rings.^[38] The major courts would be suspended for the day, and the other Serjeants, judges, leaders of the Inns of Court and occasionally the King would attend.^[39] Serjeant's Inn and the Inns of Court were not big enough for such an occasion, and Ely Place or Lambeth Palace would instead be used.^[40] The feasts gradually declined in importance, and by the 17th century they were small enough to be held in the Inns. The last recorded feast was in 1736 in Middle Temple, when fourteen new Serjeants were raised to the Coif.^[41]

The traditional clothing of a Serjeant-at-Law consisted of a

The coif was the main symbol of the Order of Serjeants-at-Law, and is where their most recognisable name (the Order of the Coif) comes from.[48] The coif was white and made of either silk or lawn. A Serjeant was never obliged to take off or cover his coif, not even in the presence of the King, except as a judge when passing a death sentence. In that situation he would wear a black cap intended to cover the coif, although it is often confused with the coif itself.^[48] When wigs were first introduced for barristers and judges it caused some difficulty for Serjeants, who were not allowed to cover the coif. Wigmakers got around this by adding a small white cloth to the top of the wig, representing the coif.^[49] A small black piece of cloth was worn over the white cloth, representing the skullcap that the serjeants had begun wearing over their coifs in the 14th century.^[1]

A King's or Queen's Serjeant was a Serjeant-at-Law appointed to serve

For almost all of their history, Serjeants at Law and King's Serjeants were the only advocates given rights of audience in the Court of Common Pleas.^[55] Until the 17th century they were also first in the order of precedence in the Court of King's Bench and Court of Chancery,^[56] which gave them priority in motions before the court. Serjeants also had the privilege of being immune from most normal forms of lawsuit – they could only be sued by a writ from the Court of Chancery.^[57] It was held as an extension of this that servants of Serjeants could only be sued in the Common Pleas. As part of the Court of Common Pleas the Serjeants also performed some judicial duties, such as levying fines.^[58] In exchange for these privileges, Serjeants were expected to fulfil certain duties; firstly, that they represent anybody who asked regardless of their ability to pay, and secondly that, due to the small number of judges, they serve as deputy judges to hear cases when there was no judge available.^[59]

Only Serjeants-at-Law could become judges of the common law courts; this rule came into being in the 14th century for the Courts of Common Pleas and King's Bench, and was extended to the

In the order of precedence King's Serjeants came before all other barristers, even the Attorney-General, until the introduction of King's Counsel.^[63] This state of affairs came to an end as a result of two changes – firstly, during the reign of James I, when a royal patent gave the Attorney General precedence over all King's Serjeants "except the two ancientiest",^[64] and secondly in 1814 when the Attorney General of the time was a barrister and the Solicitor General (politically junior to the Attorney General) a King's Serjeant. To reflect the political reality, the Attorney General was made superior to any King's Serjeant, and this remained until the order of Serjeants-at-Law finally died out.^[64]

The main character in