Doctors' Commons

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Doctors' Commons in the early 19th century.

Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law in London. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildings with rooms where its members lived and worked and a big library. Court proceedings of the civil law courts were also held in Doctors' Commons.

While the English Common Law unlike the legal systems on the European continent developed mostly independently from Roman Law, some specialised English courts applied the Roman law based civil law. This is true of the ecclesiastical courts, whose practice even after the reformation continued to be based on the canon law of the church, which in turn was heavily romanised, but also of the admiralty courts. The advocates practising in these courts were trained in Roman law at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The civilian legal profession was split like its common law counterpart. The advocates had a role similar to that of barristers in the common law courts. The proctors, who were also associated with Doctors' Commons although they had no university degree, can be compared to common law solicitors.

According to some accounts, the society of Doctors' Commons was formed in 1511 by Richard Bodewell, Dean of the Arches. According to others, it existed already in the 15th century. The society's buildings, which were acquired in 1567, were situated near St. Paul's Cathedral. In 1768 it was incorporated under the official name of College of Doctors of Law exercent in the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts.

In the 19th century, the institution of Doctors' Commons and its members were looked upon as old-fashioned and slightly ridiculous. A satirical description of Doctors' Commons can be found in Charles Dickens' Sketches by Boz and also in his novel David Copperfield.—The Court of Probate Act of 1857 gave common lawyers the right to practise in the areas which before had been the exclusive domain of civilians. For this reason the civilian legal profession died out and its society, Doctors' Commons, dissolved. The buildings of Doctors' Commons were sold in 1865.