Information for Scottish solicitors

Information for Scottish solicitors who are interested in transferring to the bar.

In order to become an Advocate you must usually have obtained a Law degree from one of the Scottish Universities to the required standard, and have passed the examinations in specified subjects.  These are detailed in the Admission Regulations .  If you did not pass equivalent subjects during an undergraduate law degree, it is usually necessary either to undertake and pass an equivalent University course, or to pass the Faculty examination in the subject(s) in question. 

If you have been actively engaged in practice as a Solicitor in Scotland for at least three years prior to the presentation of the Petition, then, on production of the appropriate certificate from the Law Society of Scotland confirming this (and confirming that you are a fit and proper person to be admitted to the Faculty), you will be exempt from the requirement to have obtained the Diploma in Legal Practice.

You should obtain a Status Report from the Law Society of Scotland and provide it to the Faculty. 

You must have your name removed from the Roll of Solicitors before embarking upon the period of pupillage. 

Further details are set out in the Faculty’s Admission Regulations .

For further information on pupillage (or ‘devilling’), please click here. If you would like more information, please contact the Faculty of Advocates admissions@advocates.org.uk.

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