Laura Malone, 53, argues that the Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC, is vicariously liable for negligence on behalf of the Crown Office.

Ms Malone says her bosses failed to take adequate measures to prevent her mental health problems and is seeking the sum to compensate for loss of earnings.

The former lawyer, who began her career as a prosecutor in 1991, brought the case in 2017, three years after she left employment with the Crown Office.

She claims that bosses “ignored” her complaints and requests for assistance.

Her work was rated as being of a “very high standard” until 2010, she claims, when she started working for the health and safety unit. As a result of not being given any training in that area of law or help from managers she became stressed and started to drink more, she says.

The Lord Advocate denies the claims and says Ms Malone’s managers were unaware of her stress.