Ali read Politics and Contemporary History at university, during which time he was a recipient of a scholarship spending his second year in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He graduated in 2000 after which he completed his PGDL. He was called to the Bar of England & Wales by the Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn in 2004.

Ali chose to start his legal career in the Middle East in 2004 working across various jurisdictions, settling finally in the Kingdom of Bahrain where he practised for a decade. During his time in the Middle East, Ali was ranked in Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 as well as co-leading an IFLR deal of the year in 2009. His practice focused on corporate transactions and advisory work. Ali developed and led the special projects team working with major defence contractors on projects regionally. His clients also included Fortune 100 companies, international law firms as well as High Net Worth Individuals.  

 In December 2016, Ali decided to relocate back to the United Kingdom where he retrained as a solicitor in Manchester focusing on commercial litigation matters. He was admitted as a Solicitor of England & Wales in 2020. He joined Graphene Legal as a solicitor in February 2024 where his practice is focused on commercial litigation, landlord and tenant disputes, and debt recovery (B2B and B2C).

When not in the office, Ali enjoys cooking. He researched, scripted, and presented his own cooking show which ran for five seasons airing on Asia’s then first 24-hour cooking channel.