Serjeants at Law were the highest rank of English lawyers, from which judges were drawn. They were recognisable by their multi-coloured robes and white coif or cap, from which their common name, Order of the Coif is taken.

The serjeants were an exclusive group who held a monopoly on the Court of Common Pleas but also worked at the King's Bench. A small group of new serjeants would be created every few years. Each group of serjeants called was required to give gold rings, engraved with suitable loyal or legal mottoes to the sovereign, Lord Privy Seal and other dignitaries. In 1552, the diarist Henry Machyn described how ‘was made vii serjants of the coyffe, who gayf to the judges and the old serjants and men of the law, rynges of gold’. The new sergeants would also have to fund a celebratory feast. Although the rings and feast constituted a sizeable expense, the new serjeants could expect such a lucrative career after their advancement that the expense was justifiable.

The order of serjeants gradually declined in the 19th century and was eventually abolished by the Judicature Act of 1873 which allowed judges to be recruited from outside the ranks of serjeants.