1. The English legal profession is divided into two “branches“. The solicitors' branch is commonly understood (though not entirely accurately) as engaging primarily in the paperwork of law, while the Bar or “barristers' branch” is commonly understood (again, not entirely accurately) as a profession of courtroom advocates. Historically the “Bar” is regulated by four professional bodies (the “Inns of Court”) and all barristers must belong to one or other Inn. The four Inns of Court are Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. The head of each Inn is designated the “Treasurer“, not, as is commonly the practice in other organisations, the “President”.
2. C.H. Whitehurst, Treasurer of the Middle Temple, Evidence before the Inns of Court Commission (1854), 524.