Ailsa became a Member of Chambers in October 2019 following successful completion of her pupillage under the supervision of Ben Lloyd, Simon Ray, and Alison Morgan KC. Following pupillage, Ailsa spent 10 months on secondment as Judicial Assistant to Lord Reed in the UK Supreme Court, after which she returned to chambers in August 2020.

Ailsa accepts instructions across the range of Chambers’ practice areas, most frequently defending and prosecuting in the magistrates’ and Crown courts. She is a CPS Level 3 (General Crime) prosecutor and has also been instructed by local councils and private clients on various aspects of private prosecutions, as well as having completed initial training in extradition proceedings with the CPS.  She has appeared before Social Work England and the High Court (Administrative Division) in regulatory proceedings; acted for the Office of Product Safety and Standards in confiscation proceedings under the Consumer Protection Act 1987; and appeared for a vulnerable defendant in civil contempt proceedings brought before the county court.

Ailsa is listed on the Government Legal Department’s Junior Junior scheme and in that capacity, was instructed (alongside Christopher Knight of 11KBW) to assist Sir Tom Winsor in his independent review into the departure of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, in February 2022.  She is presently one of several junior junior counsel assisting the Post Office Horizon Inquiry. She has also acted for the Home Office in relation to the provision of recovery needs support for a victim of trafficking, and adequate accommodation for an asylum seeker under ss 95-96 of the 1999 Act.  Ailsa has also regularly assisted David Perry KC with various pieces of work raising complex questions of law in domestic and foreign jurisdictions. She is pleased to take on pro bono work via Advocate.

Ailsa was admitted to the legal profession in Queensland on 2 February 2015. She spent 2015 as Associate to the Hon. Justice Roslyn G. Atkinson AO of the Supreme Court of Queensland, where she attended and aided in the conduct of various criminal and civil trials, interlocutory proceedings, and appeals. During 2016, Ailsa interned with the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute and the defence team for General Ratko Mladic at the ICTY. Ailsa spent 2017 in the Turks and Caicos Islands working as a paralegal with Griffiths & Partners Attorneys. Having been active in pro bono work during her studies, she spent a period in late 2018 as a volunteer solicitor with the Youth Advocacy Centre in Brisbane, Australia, before returning to the UK to commence pupillage. She has additionally accumulated several years’ experience as a research assistant to various academics, including at the University of Cambridge, across areas of international law and also indigenous land rights.

Criminal Bar Association Bar Human Rights Committee Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association CPS Advocate Panel (Level 3) Advocate 6KBW College Hill Management Committee 6KBW College Hill Equality and Diversity office Neurodiversity in Law (‘Champion’) Barristers with Lived Experience of Mental Illness

LLB/BA (Spanish/Peace & Conflict Studies), University of Queensland, Australia GDLP, Australian National University LLM (International Law) (1st), University of Cambridge BTT, BPP Law School