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IU McKinney School of Law student Shannon Connors (left) traveled to the United Kingdom to observe London barristers at various Inns during a visit October 8– 12 as a recipient of The Hon. Brent E. Dickson Sagamore Inn of Court Fellowship.

The fellowship was established in 2014 by the Sagamore Inn of Court to honor one of its founding members, former Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent E. Dickson, '68.

Connors said that she applied for the fellowship because she is interested in pursing international law as a career, specifically the International Criminal Court. Her international interest started when she had the experience of conducting policy work while studying abroad in Cartagena, Colombia as an undergraduate at Purdue University. She also wrote her law school required writing requirement on comparing Indiana’s judicial selection process to the United Kingdom’s for Professor Joel Schumm’s Judicial Selection class over the summer of 2018.

“I knew this fellowship would be the perfect opportunity to gain more insight into the United Kingdom’s legal system,” she said.

While in London, Connors visited the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple, two of four Inns of Court entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers. Located in the wider Temple area of London, the Inns of Court are located near the Royal Courts of Justice, which Connors also visited.

“All the Barristers and Solicitors were very welcoming to me, and are great connections to have,” Connors said.

Connors also visited the Central Criminal Court in the historic Old Bailey Building observing a murder trial, the Cloisters Chamber observing a malpractice law suit, and the Supreme Court observing an employment discrimination case.

“Observing these cases and talking with the Barristers and Solicitors has broadened my understanding of international law,” Connors said. “It is an experience I will never forget.”

The Sagamore Inn of Court was founded in 1997 in Indianapolis to provide an opportunity for legal professionals to discuss ethical issues related to the practice of law, and meets on a monthly basis at the law school. Justice Dickson was one of the founding members. He was a general practice lawyer in Lafayette, Indiana for 17 years until 1986, when he was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court, where he served as Chief Justice from 2012 to 2014.

This is the second year that members of the Sagamore Inn of Court has made the fellowship possible for recipients to travel to London.