Alexander Wilson's documented professional life is centred on Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, a state of Australia. Brisbane's legal profession had a long history by the time he entered it. The firm later known as Feez Ruthning traced its origins to the practice of Robert Little, who had been practising law in Brisbane since 1846, twelve years before Queensland became a separate colony.
Wilson studied at the University of Queensland, where he completed honours degrees in Commerce and Law. The university was established by an Act of the Queensland Parliament on 10 December 1909 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Queensland's separation from New South Wales. Its first students enrolled in 1911, and its main campus at St Lucia was developed after land was acquired in the late 1920s.
In 1983 he was admitted to the bar in Queensland, completing his formal entry into the state's legal profession.
Wilson's documented career is associated with Feez Ruthning, a Brisbane law firm, where he worked as a partner. The firm's history extends back to the nineteenth-century practice of Robert Little. The name Feez entered the firm in 1885, when Adolph Feez became a junior partner in MacPherson, Miskin & Feez. Adalbert Ruthning joined the practice in 1911 and 1912, and from 1927 the firm operated as Feez Ruthning & Co.
During the years of Wilson's admission to the bar, the firm was still known as Feez Ruthning & Co., a name it kept until 1986, when the "& Co." was dropped. The firm later became part of the Allens Arthur Robinson group, and it was merged with the Sydney firm Allen Allen & Hemsley.
