Former Balfour and Manson partner Margaret Neilson has been appointed as an all-Scotland floating sheriff based in Inverness.
As in all cases, First Minister Alex Salmond nominated Ms Neilson for appointment by convention, on the basis of a report by the Judicial Appointments Board.
Neilson will sit mostly in the Sheriffdom of Grampian Highlands and Islands.
She has been a solicitor since 1984 and was accredited as a specialist in personal injury law by the Law Society.
