Ismail has obtained a diploma in international air law from the Utrecht University, Netherlands in 1983.
He has followed a course in 1998, in Dispute Resolution organized by the Institute for the Study and Development of Legal Systems in the University of California, Berkeley.
He joined the Attorney-General's Department (Sri Lanka) as a Crown Counsel in 1971 after a brief period of practice in the unofficial bar.
During his tenure as a Supreme Court judge, he served as a member of the Judicial Service Commission.
Ismail was appointed as the chairman of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption [1] by Her Excellency the President on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council in March 2005 for a period of five years ending March 2010.