Frank Mulholland

Solicitor General for Scotland Following the 2007 Scottish election, newly elected SNP First Minister Alex Salmond appointed Mulholland to succeed Labour Party member John Beckett as Solicitor General, the junior of the two Law Officers of the Crown in Scotland. Beckett, who had been junior defence counsel for Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in the Lockerbie trial, was subsequently appointed a floating sheriff.

The SNP government said at the time that they believed Mulholland to have no political affiliation. and he was sworn in as Solicitor General at a ceremony at the Court of Session on 30 May 2007. His appointment was significant in that it was the first time neither the Lord Advocate nor the Solicitor General had been a member of the Faculty of Advocates. Both were invited to join the faculty by its dean, Richard Keen, in October 2008.

Whilst Solicitor General, he formed the new Serious and Organised Crime Division within the Crown Office, as well as leading the successful prosecution of Peter Tobin in 2007 for the 1991 murder of fifteen-year-old Vicky Hamilton.

Lord Advocate

Mulholland was appointed Lord Advocate, the senior Law Officer in Scotland, following the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. He succeeded Elish Angiolini and his appointment was agreed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 May. He was succeeded as Solicitor General by Lesley Thomson, Area Procurator Fiscal for Glasgow. On 13 July 2011, Mulholland was appointed to the Privy Council.

Mulholland was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to law in Scotland for his service as Lord Advocate.

Senator of the College of Justice On 11 May 2016 it was announced that he was to be appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, his appointment to take effect later in the year.

Malicious prosecution of David Whitehouse and Paul Clark

In 2021 Mulholland's successor as Lord Advocate apologised to Paul Clark and David Whitehouse for the decision to prosecute them in 2015 over the takeover of Rangers football club. In a statement to the Scottish Parliament,

Awards and honours In June 2013, he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen by the Duchess of Rothesay.