Three join Scottish Civil Justice Council

Three new members have been appointed to the Scottish Civil Justice Council, two practising solicitors  and one sheriff, a Lord President member.

Iain MacRae has been a partner of Gilmartin Finlay MacRae, Dundee since 1995. He has concentrated on civil court work since about 2005, and has been a tutor in civil court practice and advocacy on the University of Dundee Diploma in Legal Practice course since 1995 and a course leader and lecturer since 2011. He was appointed as a legal member of the local taxation chamber of the First-tier Tribunal on 1 November 2022.

Nicola Irvine, managing partner of Russells Gibson McCaffrey, Glasgow, has over 20 years’ experience as a litigator in the sheriff court. In recent years, she has expanded her practice into regulatory work. A former Dean of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow, she sits as a legal member in two chambers of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland.

They join Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown, a sheriff in Dundee since 2019, and previously a summary sheriff from 2016. She was a solicitor in private practice for six years and an advocate for six years, with an expertise in the fields of personal injury and medical negligence. As a summary sheriff, she had particular responsibility for the Problem Solving Court in Forfar. She was appointed as a commercial sheriff in 2020.

Chair of the Council, Lord President Carloway, said: “I would like to welcome all three members to the Council. I am confident that the Council will benefit from their wealth of knowledge and expertise.”