The Inns of Court School of Law (often abbreviated as ICSL) was founded by the
Council of Legal Education in 1852. It was a professional legal training institution based for 100 years at
Lincoln's Inn and then at
Gray's Inn in London. Until 1997, the ICSL had a monopoly on the provision of the
Bar Vocational Course (now the Bar Vocational Studies (BVS), the obligatory, pre-
pupillage training course for intending barristers in
England and Wales. Before that time, the
Inns of Court were responsible for the education of those intending to become barristers. There was call during the nineteenth century for the education of barristers to be unified and thus the Council of Legal Education was formed, and the ICSL founded. Since 2001, the ICSL has been part of
City, University of London. The
Council of Legal Education (CLE) was established by Resolutions of the
Inns of Court in 1852. The CLE initially met in the library of
Lincoln's Inn. In 1903 it moved to 15 Old Square, Lincoln's Inn. In 1947, the CLE moved to 7 Stone Buildings, where it was able to provide lecture rooms, and other facilities for students. In 1964, the CLE acquired premises in
Gray's Inn. In 1967, the Inns of Court School of Law (ICSL) was formally established at 4 Gray's Inn Place. The first dean, Charles Morrison, was appointed in 1969. When the ICSL was first created, each of the four Inns of Court were required to provide two rooms for teaching purposes. Until just after the
Second World War, the ICSL was located in Lincoln's Inn. In the 1950s, a purpose-built building was constructed at 4 Gray's Inn Place (within Gray's Inn) and the school relocated there. Shortly after that, Atkin Building in Gray's Inn was secured and then in the 1980s a further building was acquired for the ICSL in Princeton Street, formerly the London studios of
Yorkshire Television. The City Law School, successor to the ICSL is now located at City St George's. The former site of the ICSL in Gray's Inn Place is now used by an independent preparatory school.
Rebranding In July 2008, the ICSL brand was dropped and replaced with The City Law School brand. Replacement of the ICSL brand was phased in gradually. Initially, both logos were used on the school stationery. In the 2007–2008 academic year, school publications bore The City Law School name with the ICSL logo. Now, The City Law School logo is used exclusively.
ICSL emblem The ICSL emblem used to be displayed at the front entrance to Gray's Inn Place. The emblem consisted of the combined
coats of arms of all four Inns of Court, namely (in order)
Lincoln's Inn, the
Middle Temple, the
Inner Temple and
Gray's Inn. The Council of Legal Education used a similar form of emblem. ==Academic courses==