[6][7] In 1990, she graduated with an LLB (hons) (Upper Second Class specialising in Comparative Law) and gained a Diploma in Legal Practice the following year.
[8][9] After receiving her Diploma in Legal Practice in 1991, she undertook a bar traineeship with Simpson & Marwick in Edinburgh after which[7] she was admitted as an advocate in 1993,[10] and devilled for sheriff J.A.
[11] From 2000 to 2008 she was standing junior counsel to the Home Office in Scotland, appearing in many judicial reviews and statutory appeals relating to immigration and asylum.
[7] On 11 May 2016, it was announced that Carmichael would be one of five new judges appointed to the College of Justice, the others being John Beckett, Alistair Clark, Frank Mulholland, and Andrew Stewart.
[9] Carmichael has spoken about experiencing sexism and sexual harassment in her legal training, and of the effect of being a parent on her studies.
[6] She has said: I think that it is sometimes harder than we acknowledge to free ourselves from traditional narratives about the roles of men and women respectively in society generally, and in professional life in particular.