Shiranee Tilakawardane is a former puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and a member of the Judicial Service Commission.
This was followed by a tenure in the United States, where she served in the Consumer and Narcotic Division of the District Attorney's Office of Fort Colorado.
Justice Tilakawardane represented an early generation of women lawyers in Sri Lanka and scored many firsts.
She further established a record by being the country's first female judge of the High Court in April 1988 and became the first woman justice of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka in July 1998.
She also serves as an International Advisory Board member for the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life at Brandeis University in the U.S. She is currently a consultant to the Sri Lanka Judges Training Institute.