degree (cum laude) from Harvard Law School in 1989, where as a third-year student he published his first book, Perspectives on Risk-Based Capital.

[2] Upon graduation from Harvard Law School, Bhala practiced as an attorney with the legal department of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (1989–93), specializing in three areas: payment systems, foreign exchange, and enforcement.

The New York Fed twice (November 1990 and December 1992) awarded him its President's Award for Excellence, in part for his work as a United States delegate to the United Nations Convention on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in drafting the 1992 Model Law on International Credit Transfers,[7] for which he also received a Letter of Commendation from the U.S. State Department (September 1991).

[11] He has served as an International Legal Consultant for The Al Ammari Law Firm, in association with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

[17] In January 2014, Bhala was one of over 80 Distinguished Professors in Kansas to sign a letter calling for suspension and ultimate repeal of the social media policy adopted the previous month by the state's Board of Regents.

[2] In December 2014, he commented in a TV interview that the release of the U.S. Senate report on enhanced interrogation techniques (torture) by the CIA showed not only a disconnect between the myth and reality of American support for human rights, but also (ultimately) the strength of America and its commitment to the rule of law.

[27] In a New Zealand radio interview, Bhala spoke about the meaning of "enhanced interrogation techniques", and the lack of any justification for torture.

[28] In December 2015, Bhala was one of 70 University of Kansas Distinguished Professors to sign a letter of protest against a change in state law allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on campus.

[39] The Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law publishes the annual WTO Case Review, which Bhala co-authored since its inception in 2000.

[43] He also has authored the textbook International Trade Law, which has been cited by United States federal courts,[44] and portions of this text were translated into Vietnamese.

[50] His monograph Trade War: Causes, Conduct, and Consequences of Sino-American Confrontation is an interdisciplinary legal analysis of the origins, nature, and future of tariff and non-tariff battles between the U.S. and China.

[63] He delivered a major address at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in February 2017, The Legal, Economic, and National Security Dimensions of the Trans Pacific Partnership.

[64] He gave Webinars for the Conference Board of Canada in August 2017, An American Perspective on NAFTA's Past, Present, and Future;[65] October 2018, The Three-Dimensional International Trade War: Strategic Positioning for Canada in WTO, NAFTA, and Bilateral Battles,[66] and October 2020, Restructuring Global Trade Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Matrix of Challenges and Opportunities.

[67] In June 2021, he was a Distinguished Speaker at the Indian Society of International Law, lecturing on Historical Evolution of GATT and WTO,[68] and in March 2022 he presented at the Horasis USA Global Summit Conference on "Shaping America's Role in a Post-Pandemic World" on the topic of Revival of Substantial World Trade.

Bhala serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Carolina Academic Press, where he also is the general editor for its studies on globalization and society.