Welcome to the John C. Lifland American Inn of Court
The John C. Lifland Inn of Court, a chapter of the American Inns of Court, has been dedicated to the advancement of professionalism, civility, legal excellence, and
ethics within the legal profession, for more than 25 years. The Inn focuses on Intellectual Property and Federal Practice in the District of New Jersey.
The Inn’s President is the Honorable John C. Lifland, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey (retired). Members of the Inn include Masters,
Barristers, and Associates, as well as active, senior, and retired, federal Judges who regularly attend and participate in the Inn’s programs. The Inn provides
opportunities for fellowship and mentorship among members, and includes CLE programs for members during each meeting.
Inn Programs
The Lifland Inn conducts two-year program cycles centered on an intellectual property fact pattern typically involving copyright, trademark, or trade dress issues. The Inn’s Judges, Masters, Barristers, and invited guests, present programs to the Inn, and interact with the Inn’s Members engaging in program-related exercises developed to address the issues presented by the fact pattern and those which typically arise in the course of complex civil cases litigated in the District of New Jersey. These issues, structured based on the fact pattern, cover ethics, case intake, case preparation, pretrial discovery, motions, applications for injunctive relief, pretrial preparation, and trial.
Inn Meetings
Traditionally, the Inn meets in person each month, except for July and August, either at the Law Center in New Brunswick, or at the United States Court House in Newark, New Jersey. During the course of the pandemic, the Inn has been holding meetings via live interactive webcast over the Zoom platform. As many as 80 to 100 Members attend the Inn’s meetings.
Inn Administration
During this two-year program cycle, the Inn’s Directors are Mary E. Bartkus, Special Counsel, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, and James (Jim) P. Flynn, Member, Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C., both Masters of the Bench. The Inn’s Barrister Program Director is Sara Merin, United States Attorney’s Office, and Master of the Bench. The Inn’s Program Director is Kristine Butler, DiMarino, Lehrer & Collazo, P.C., also a Master of the Bench. The Inn collects annual membership dues from its active Masters, Barristers, and Associates (except judicial law clerks), sufficient to cover the Inn’s membership in the American Inns of Court, dinner and other meetings, and incidental administrative expenses.
The Inn has received service provider approval from the Supreme Court of New Jersey Board on Continuing Legal Education for both in-person meetings, and live interactive webcast meetings held over Zoom. The Inn plans ten meetings each year. The CLE portion of each meeting is generally a minimum of one hour.
For information about joining the John C. Lifland American Inn of Court, contact Mary Bartkus or Jim Flynn.