He holds the qualification B.L. and was admitted to the bar in Scotland in 1950.
Scotland's legal profession is organised through distinct bodies. The Law Society of Scotland regulates solicitors, and the Faculty of Advocates regulates advocates. Professional societies such as the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow play no regulatory role for their members and instead provide services such as a law library and continuing professional development.
Duncan McKichan's documented career centres on Maclay Murray & Spens, a Glasgow law firm in which he worked as a partner. The firm's origins lie in 1869, when David Murray and George Smith formed George Smith & Murray, a company that later became Maclay, Murray and Spens. The firm was founded in Glasgow in 1871 by David Maclay, David Murray and John Spens as the first law firm in Scotland with a specifically commercial practice.
By the time of its merger with the global firm Dentons, which was completed in 2017, Maclay Murray & Spens was headquartered in Glasgow with offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and London. Its practice combined commercial work with general practice across the United Kingdom.
McKichan was admitted to the bar in Scotland in 1950 and is also recorded as a notary public, qualifications that sit alongside his partnership in the firm.
He is associated with the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow, which is one of the oldest legal societies in the United Kingdom. The Faculty was incorporated prior to 1668 to support and regulate the procurators of the Commissary Court of Glasgow, and the earliest surviving record of its existence is a minute book from 1668.
The Faculty has maintained a library since 1817 and has occupied its building at 12 Nelson Mandela Place since 1857. Its 'Royal' title was added in 1950, the year McKichan was admitted to the bar, and it continues to serve the legal profession in Glasgow and West Central Scotland.
