Alexandra Lawson

Alexandra Lawson is a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom, who is passionate about international trade law, international economics, and public international law. Alexandra’s love of international trade law can be traced back to her undergraduate degree at the University of Western Australia, where she completed a double degree in Law and Economics, majoring in international law, international business economics and trade, and money and banking. Whilst at university, she was a student editor of the UWA Law Review and represented UWA nationally and internationally at various moots and competitions.

After her degree, Alexandra took time off to pursue her other interests, where she enjoyed a career as a professional actor, singer, and dancer. She worked primarily in theatre, as a mezzo-soprano in musical theatre, and as a coloratura soprano in classical music and opera. Her highlights from this time include annual performances at Christmas of Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s St John’s and St Matthew’s Passions at Easter.

Alexandra’s love of trade law was reignited in the context of COVID-19, the Australia-China trade war, and the breakdown of the Appellate Body. She returned to the law and was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Before coming to the World Trade Institute, she worked at Legal Aid WA providing family law advice in the areas of property settlement and children’s matters to WA’s poorest and most vulnerable groups.

Alexandra aims to pursue a career as a WTO dispute resolution litigator and hopes to use her time at the WTI to learn more about WTO dispute settlement, and the potential integration of public international law and international environmental law within the existing WTO multilateral framework. As an avid mooter, she is honoured to be leading the WTI team to the John H Jackson Moot Court Competition. In her free time, Alexandra enjoys singing, ballet, reading, and exploring the most beautiful places in Switzerland and Europe.