Tradition of Faculty calling ceremony captured on camera

Both parts of the calling ceremony – admission to the Faculty before the Dean and other office-bearers, followed by the swearing in as an officer of the court by a Senator in the Outer House – were recorded for a short documentary showing life and work at the modern Scottish Bar.

It is hoped the documentary will interest and inform the public at large and help attract future generations of advocates.

Gordon Jackson QC, Dean of Faculty, said: “The Faculty is centuries old but we are constantly adapting to changing times while preserving our traditions and independence. We want the public to see behind the wig and gown, and thought a brief documentary would be a good way of doing this, and where better to start than new advocates being admitted?”

Meanwhile, the five new members are David Welsh, Kirsty Tyre, Michael Dempsey, Simon Crabb and Paul Harvey.

Mr Welsh, from County Durham, is a graduate of Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities. He trained as a solicitor with Turcan Connell in Edinburgh, qualifying in 2012, and became Senior Solicitor in the firm’s tax and trusts department. He qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2014.

Ms Tyre, from Edinburgh, is a graduate of St Andrews University and Edinburgh University. She qualified as a solicitor in 2013 with CMS Cameron McKenna, and prior to commencing devilling, she held a position in the firm’s professional indemnity dispute resolution team.

Mr Dempsey, from Ayr, graduated from Strathclyde University, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 2011, and the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 2013. He trained as a solicitor with MacRoberts in Glasgow and qualified shortly before setting out on a career at the Bar.

Mr Crabb, from Ardgay, is a graduate of Strathclyde University and the Complutense University of Madrid. After working for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, he spent four years, from 2012 to 2016, in conflict zones in Colombia with Peace Brigades International and Lawyers Without Borders Canada.

Mr Harvey is a graduate of Glasgow University and the European University Institute, Florence. He is an English-qualified barrister, and worked for nearly ten years in the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, followed by a period in the litigation division of the Scottish Government Legal Directorate.