Amity Visit to Washington DC

Report by Master Jeffrey Golden 

Exactly a century ago, a 3,000 strong contingent made the first official American Bar Association (ABA) visit to the United Kingdom, commandeering three liners for the crossing. On arrival, the visiting US lawyers and their accompanying spouses were incredibly well-hosted then by Middle Temple and the other Inns of Court. There were special services at Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s and Westminster Cathedral and also grand events at the Palace of Westminster, the Guildhall and the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London as well as a visit to Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of the Washingtons. The King and Queen hosted a garden party. Speeches came from, among others, the Lord Chancellor, Justice Sutherland of the US Supreme Court and ABA President Charles Evans Hughes (who was at the time US Secretary of State and later Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court). Lord Birkenhead, a former Lord Chancellor, declared that there had never been anything like the occasion to his knowledge, and that he had attended many great functions given by the Czar, the Kaiser and other royalties. It is clear that those of us who were not ‘lives in being’ in 1924 missed one heck of a party!

A spirit of amity inspired and pervaded that 1924 gathering of the profession – and it lives on! And so it was that a more modest, but similarly spirited, contingent from Middle Temple travelled in the opposite direction for the Inn’s 2023 Amity Visit to Washington DC. Ably led by our then-Treasurer, Master David Lloyd-Jones, this September visit facilitated a valued opportunity to mix with US-based lawyers and judges, including our Honorary Benchers there, exchange ideas and foster relevant professional relationships. 

Our stated objectives for the trip were:

a) To strengthen links with our members in the United States of America, who will be looking forward to renewing and forming new acquaintances with Middle Temple. 

b) To participate in, in the company of lawyers and judges in the United States, an interesting and exciting programme of discussions and meetings. 

c) To promote excellence in advocacy, and the highest standards of professional ethics, through the training we provide and the collegiate ethos it instils in members. 

d) To show our support for the Rule of Law, and for the profession of advocacy, in a part of the world to which we owe much, and which still strongly acknowledges its ties with us. 

e) To promote the professional interests of members of the Inn, while developing and supporting overseas activities and members of the Inn. 

f) To facilitate the updating of the database of our members in the United States, so that the members of the Inn can be communicated with effectively, with a view to encouraging ongoing dialogue and engagement with our members in the United States. 

After an Opening Reception at the British Embassy the previous evening, we spent the first full day of the trip at the Historic DC Courthouse, one of the oldest public buildings in Washington, hosting a conference. Our agenda that day featured transatlantic comparisons by ‘first in the class’ speakers from both sides of the pond on such themes as criminal damage relating to public monuments, national security and judicial challenges, foreign relations in the US and UK courts and ESG. Anticipating our visit there the next day, we also benefited from a keynote session at this conference on issues facing the US Supreme Court by Yale Law School’s Master Linda Greenhouse. Master Greenhouse was the Supreme Court Correspondent of The New York Times for 30 years and won a Pulitizer Prize for her coverage of the court.

The conferencing moved on the second day to George Washington Law School, where we had our eyes opened by a lecture ‘Into the Unknown’ by US attorney Dan Jasnow on AI, the metaverse and the practice of law.

For many of us the highlight of the trip came that evening at a dinner at the US Supreme Court, where we were hosted and welcomed with opening remarks by our Honorary Bencher, Associate Justice, Master Neil Gorsuch. Master Treasurer then did us proud in his reply, reminding our host and the other assembled guests of Middle Temple’s distinguished history and its role and relevance today.  

Meanwhile, there was a special treat in store for some of the younger members of our delegation that evening, when Master Gorsuch took them on a tour that included a visit to the basketball court that sits above the hearing rooms, ‘the highest court in the land’, where they got to shoot baskets with their host.

The next morning, we were back in court, this time the DC Circuit Ceremonial Courtroom, where we heard from US Court of Appeals Judge Robert Wilkins his truly moving family story, from slavery to Harvard Law School, that he had meticulously researched. The full Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit sits on the bench of the Ceremonial Courtroom, frequently joined by Master John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the United States, who is both an alumnus of the court and an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple.

And finally, with the sun shining brightly and a spectacular view of the United States Capitol as a backdrop, our delegation gathered one last time for a closing reception held on the rooftop garden of the Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP law firm.

Quite an experience. Comments from those attending in a survey that followed the event confirmed this with rave reviews: ‘inspiring’, ‘exciting’, ‘flawless’, etc.  Middle Temple staff members Oliver Muncey and Cath Bygrave were justifiably singled out for praise for the seamless organisation of the event.  

We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge as well the considerable contribution that the American Inns of Court (AIOC) made to the success of the visit, both in securing venues and recruiting speakers. (Indeed, members of the delegation will have been particularly pleased by the recent election of AIOC’s Master Cindy Dennis as an Honorary Bencher of the Inn, in recognition of her significant contribution to this event and other activities of the Inn over the years.)

Middle Temple’s historic ties to America are well-known. A plaque in Hall reminds us that, for example, five Middle Temple trained and Called lawyers signed the Declaration of Independence and seven the United States Constitution. Another plaque commemorates Middle Temple promoters of overseas exploration in America in the reign of Elizabeth I. The 2023 Amity Visit to Washington DC was another chance to confirm the Inn’s special relationship with and interest in the American branch of our profession.

And for anyone who missed out last year, another opportunity looms in November, when the ABA returns to London to celebrate the centenary of that 1924 visit. Middle Temple is represented on the planning committee for that event, and a gala dinner at Middle Temple Hall has been scheduled for the evening of Thursday 14 November 2024. Another chance for Middle Templars to polish their pride a bit, and, in keeping with the spirit of the 2023 and earlier Amity Visits, to better appreciate, and feel especially good, about being members both of the Inn and more broadly our learned profession.

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