Lord Mackay of Drumadoon

A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, he qualified as a solicitor in 1971 and practised for five years before being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates.

He served as an advocate depute in the High Court for three years before taking silk in 1987.

In 1995, he was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland, and later that year he took office as Lord Advocate and served until 1997.

He then combined practice as a senior counsel with an active role in the House of Lords until his elevation to the Supreme Courts Bench in 2000 and appointment to the Inner House in 2010.

He retired from the bench in 2013 and from membership of the House of Lords in January 2017.

In an anecdote retold to Scottish Legal News, Lord Mackay spent much of his childhood holidaying on Arran, where he used to play at Drumadoon Farm, near the headland of the same name on the south-west of the island.

He got to know the farmer and his family and, when he announced as a teenager that he was going to study law, the farmer’s daughter had said: “Some day, Donald, you will be able to call yourself Lord Mackay of Drumadoon.”

Commenting on his passing, Gordon Jackson QC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said: “Lord Mackay was a big character who gave years of service to the law as counsel, law officer and judge. Our thoughts are with his family and many friends.”

President of the Law Society of Scotland, Alison Atack said: “Lord Mackay was a wise judge, a perceptive and tenacious lawyer and a dedicated public servant in the administration of our justice system. His broad experience as Solicitor General for Scotland and as Lord Advocate placed him at the forefront of legal and constitutional change during the late 1990s and into 2000.”

She added: “Lord Mackay qualified and worked as a solicitor, becoming a member of the Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, prior to joining the Faculty of Advocates in the mid-70s. In recent years he worked closely with us in developing and delivering solicitor advocate training, bringing his valuable experience, knowledge and expertise to ensure high standards of practice for our members who wished to attain rights of audience in the High Court of Justiciary or Court of Session.

“He will be much missed and we offer our sincere condolences to his family and friends.”