He was born on 14 July 1950, the son of the late Very Rev Dr Peter Brodie, former minister at St Mungo's Parish Church, Alloa, and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1978-79, and his wife, Constance Lindsay Hope.
[2] Brodie served as Standing Junior Counsel, a legal advisor to a government department, to the Ministry of Defence (Procurement) and to the Health and Safety Executive from 1983 to 1987, and was called to the English Bar (Lincoln's Inn) in 1991.
From 1997 to 1999, he served as an Advocate Depute, representing the Crown in prosecutions in the High Court.
[2][3] In 2013 he was appointed as Convener of the Appeals Committee of the Commission of Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
In 1983, Lord Brodie married Carol Dora McLeish, with whom he has two sons and a daughter.