Sha’ista has a passion for public and regulatory law and has worked in matters of administrative and constitutional law, environmental law, customs and excise, and employment law. She has appeared in the high courts, Supreme Court of Appeal, Tax Court, Competition Tribunal and Competition Appeal Court, and the Constitutional Court.

Before being called to the Bar in 2014, she practised in all areas of public and regulatory law while working as an attorney in two of the country’s top law firms in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. She is a former clerk of the Constitutional Court. In 2023, while on sabbatical, Sha'ista was Hubert H. Humphrey visiting fellow at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington DC where she participated in transitional justice and comparative law panel discussions and guest lectures. Sha'ista has been appointed as an acting judge in the Johannesburg High Court.