Quality of advocacy, in legal vernacular. means effective presentation of arguments and evidence in the courtroom – vital in the processes of justice and the proper function of our adversary system, To encourage achievement of that quality, an “American Inne of Court” pilot program is functioning in Utah, with units in Provo and Salt Lake City. The American adaptation of an “inns” program fostered by the English legal system is designed to polish skills of lawyers, especially inexperienced ones, and to help train law students in a non-academic setting. Writing in the American Bar Association Journal. Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. San Diego, stressed the importance of a “minimum quality” of advocacy. “While generally I am proud of the bar, I believe that too often trial attomeys do not meet that minimum standard of quality,” he commented. The Federal Judicial Center, Wallace said, attempted a few years ago to determine why advocacy is at times inadequate. Questionnaire response focused mainly on points lack of trial skills and knowledge and failure to prepare “to the best of one’s ability.” Wallace didn’t see Inns of Court as a “magical solution”‘ but supported it as a method with a potential for improving the two areas cited by the Judicial Center. The pilot project in Utah, he said, was initiated in 1980 with the encouragement of Chief Justice Warren Burger, Rex Lee, then dean of the Brigham Young University Law School (now solicitor General of the United States) assisted in establishing the first pilot inn at Provo and enlisted the support of A. Sherman Christensen, a senior U.S. judge. ‘ ‘ U nd e r J ud g e Christensen’s leadership, the rudimentary idea was given structure and life, and the concept was found to be of practical value,” Wallace added, Based on the success of “Aminncourt I,” a second inn has been established in Salt Lake City, Wallace noted. “Other law schools have indicated their interest in developing similar inns.” Positioned between the organized bar and law schools, the program involves experienced judges and attorneys – as well as the inexperienced plus law school students – in demonstrations, mock trials, critiques, and extensive discussion. Viewed as a voluntary supplement to a law school education, the Americans Inns of Court plan indeed shows merit. It affords an opportunity for the inexperienced to associate with and learn from veteran highlyregarded trial and appellate lawyers and local, state and federal judges. But the basic idea is to improve performance by emphasizing skills, knowledge, and preparation – commodities important to the public as well as the legal profession.