Emslie was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and Trinity College, Glenalmond, before studying at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (BA) and the School of Law of the University of Edinburgh (LLB).
[2] Emslie served as Standing Junior Counsel to the Forestry Commission and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1981 to 1982, and to the Inland Revenue from 1982 to 1986.
In 1988, he became part-time Chairman of the Medical Appeal Tribunals, serving until 1997, when he became Dean of the Faculty of Advocates,[3] a position his father held from 1965 to 1970.
[3] In December 2010, Emslie was appointed to the Inner House of the Court of Session and consequently sworn of the Privy Council in April 2011,[4] entitling him to the style the Right Honourable.
Lord Emslie married Heather Ann Davis in 1973; the couple have a son and two daughters.