Bromley received his call to the coif, i.e. his writ to become a serjeant-at-law, in the summer of 1539, although it was not to take effect until the day after the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, i.e. 25 June, in 1540. Significantly, another Inner Templar so-honoured at the same time was William Coningsby, an older lawyer who had also earned the hostility of Cromwell and had recently spent ten days in prison. The parliament of the Inner Temple decreed a traditional ceremony of leave-taking for them.