FYI this kind of code works (you can find it ugly, it is your right :) ) :
def list = null
list.each { println it }
soSomething()
In other words, this code has null/empty checks both useless:
if (members && !members.empty) {
members.each { doAnotherThing it }
}
def doAnotherThing(def member) {
// Some work
}