Faculty of Advocates welcomes new members

The Faculty of Advocates has welcomed two new members from the solicitors’ branch of the profession – David Swanney and Alan Cowan.

They were told by the Dean of Faculty, Gordon Jackson QC, that they had become part of a great national institution.

“The Faculty of Advocates has played, throughout its existence, a significant role in the legal and cultural life of this nation, and it is my clear intention to emphasise and increase that sense of national involvement,” he added.

In another part of the admission ceremony, Mr Swanney and Mr Cowan made the declaration of allegiance before Lord Ericht in the Court of Session.

Lord Ericht said: “You join a noble profession, a profession of excellence, of integrity, of service to the people of Scotland, and a profession which will be enriched by what you each bring to it from your distinguished careers as solicitors.

“As advocates, you join me and my fellow senators, my clerk and her fellow clerks, and the Writers to the Signet and Solicitors in the Supreme Courts as members of the College of Justice…When Parliament House was built, two statues stood above the main entrance, a statue of justice and a statue of mercy.

“It used to be said that their original location on the outside of the entrance was symbolic because within this building there was no justice and no mercy.

“You now have a part to play in ensuring that that can never be said again, and in ensuring that the College of Justice, working together, brings justice and mercy to the people of Scotland.”

Mr Swanney, from Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, is a graduate of Glasgow University and trained as a solicitor with Simpson & Marwick, qualifying in 2009. Latterly, he was an associate in the trade union department in Digby Brown’s Glasgow office.

Mr Cowan grew up in Ayrshire, and also attended Glasgow University. He qualified as a solicitor in 1991 with The McKinstry Company, Ayr. In 1997, he was appointed as litigation assistant at Simpson & Marwick. Prior to commencing devilling, he was a partner at Clyde and Co, Edinburgh. In 2004, he was granted extended rights of audience in the civil courts.