Young Yusuf started his early educational life in 1960 when he was enrolled in a local Quranic and formal school. After his primary education, he went to a secondary modern school for three years; he worked briefly before he gained admission to Ibadan Boys High School, Ibadan, where he passed his school certificate with grade one. He was the labour prefect. He again worked briefly as a clerical officer in the old Oyo state Ministry of Finance as a tax officer posted to Igboora in 1977 and at Lagelu Grammar School as a laboratory Attendant in 1978. 

He gained admission to the then University of Ife, now (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) in 1978 and graduated with a 2nd Class Upper Division for his Bachelor of Laws degree. He won the prestigious Federal Merit Award for undergraduates and was a University Scholar while an undergraduate at Ife. He attended the Nigerian Law School and passed with a 2nd Class Upper Division.  About a decade after graduation, Yusuf Ali returned to his alma mater for his Master’s programme, which he completed with flying colours in 1991 when he bagged his LLM. He was appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1989 as a Notary Public. He attained the highest professional honour at the Nigerian Bar in 1997 when he was conferred with the prestigious and honourable title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. S.A.N. Yusuf Ali has been in active legal practice since he was called to the bar.

He joined the law firm of  Adegboyega Awomolo & Co. in 1983 and rose to become a partner before he left to find his law firm, Ghalib Chambers, in June 1994.

He is the Principal and Founder of the Law Firm Yusuf O. Ali & Co, Ghalib Chambers. with Ilorin, Lagos, and Abuja offices, with Ilorin as the head office. Yusuf Ali SAN is a member of many professional bodies, such as:

1. Nigerian Bar Association
2. International Bar Association
3. American Bar Association
4. Commonwealth Lawyers Association, among others.

He has won and been conferred with many fellowships, such as:

1. Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) (UK).
2. Fellow Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) (Nigeria)
3. Member Chartered Institute of Taxation Nigeria (CITN)
4. Fellow Society for Peace Studies and Practice (FSPSP).
5. Fellow Dispute Resolution Institute (F. DRI)
6. Honorary Fellow, Nigerian Minning And Geosciences Society.
7. He is a Fellowship Scholar of Kings College, London

Yusuf Ali SAN also served and is still serving on the boards of many Companies and

Institutions. He was the Chairman of the Kwara State Law Reform Committee. He is a

member of the Board of Trustees of Al-Hikmah University Ilorin. He was the pioneer

Chairman, Council of Public Defenders Kwara state. He was a member of the Board of

Trustees of Summit University OFFA, Kwara State.

Yusuf Ali SAN held and still holds many professional offices, including but not limited to :

1. Sole Judge of the Kwara State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal 1996
2. Member Kwara State Local Government Election Appeal Tribunal 1997
3. Life Member, Body of Benchers
4. Member National Executive Committee, Nigerian Bar Association
5. Former Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian Bar Journal
6. Former Chairman of the NBA Committee on the Rule Of Law
7. Pioneer Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice (SLP)
8. Pioneer Chairman of the NBA Anti-corruption Commission.
9. Former News Letter Editor International Bar Association Committee on Damages and Negligence.

10. Member of Council, Commonwealth Lawyers Association.
11. Member Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers.
12. Former Vice Chairman of the International Bar Association committee on

Damages and Negligence.

13. He is a member of the NBA ILORIN Council of Elders.
14. He was co-opted into the Council of the University of ILORIN in 1995 to probe the

bursary of that university.

15. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the ILORIN Central Mosque.
16. Chairman Alan Trust Fund of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
17. He is the former Chairman of the UNIOSUN Advancement Office.
18. Former Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association.
19. Former Chairman of the International Bar Association Committee on Damages and

Negligence.

20. He is the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, OSUN State

University.

21. He is the National Vice President of Ibadan Boys High School Old Students

Association.

22. He is currently the Chairman of the Committee of Pro Chancellors of State-Owned

Universities in Nigeria (COPSUN).

Mr. Yusuf Ali SAN is a Patron and Legal Adviser to many professional and socio

cultural groups all over Nigeria.

He is an Associate Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin. He has

delivered more than 300 papers on different and diverse topics at various fora,

including the International Bar Association Conferences, Commonwealth Law

Association conferences, Annual Conferences of the Nigerian Bar Association, among

others. He has contributed more than 20 Chapters to various legal books. He has to

his credit more than 40 published learned articles in learned journals in 

litigation, Commercial Law, jurisprudence, practice and procedure, and constitutional law,

in local and international law journals. He is a litigator and arbitrator per excellence and

has transversed all the superior courts of record from the high courts to the Supreme

Court in his over three decades of legal practice. He has also acted as

counsel and arbitrator in many arbitral proceedings. He is knowledgeable in Islamic

finance and jurisprudence. He has attended many arbitral conferences within and

outside the shores of Nigeria, especially those organised by IBA and ABA. He is a

visiting Research Fellow at Kings College, University of London, UK.