Amir Ali

Amir Ali is one of the nation’s leading civil rights advocates. He has taught several courses that encompass constitutional law, criminal procedure, and complex civil litigation. Mr. Ali previously served as the Executive Director of a national public interest law firm. He has argued three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he prevailed in all three. 

Mr. Ali has litigated complex civil and criminal cases at all levels of the judiciary, and is routinely consulted by private attorneys and public defenders on issues of trial and appellate strategy. Mr. Ali’s practice has extended across the legal system – for example, his Supreme Court arguments have established nationwide precedent in areas that include complex civil procedure (Thompson v. Clark), constitutional law and criminal procedure (Garza v. Idaho), and federal habeas corpus (Welch v. United States). Mr. Ali has appeared in 11 of the 13 federal circuits and he has succeeded in every federal appeal he has argued except for one. 

Mr. Ali has dedicated his career to upholding the rule of law for victims of civil rights abuses and other legal violations. He has represented numerous parents who have lost their loved ones to violence. Most recently, Mr. Ali represented the mother of Ahmaud Arbery in a civil suit against the people who murdered her son while he was going for a jog. Mr. Ali has also been at the forefront of challenging policies that oppress and punish minority groups. For instance, Mr. Ali’s amicus brief opposing President Trump’s Muslim Ban was cited by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her historic dissent.

Mr. Ali has previously served on the Boards of multiple civic, legal, and community organizations, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Barrister of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court. Mr. Ali began his career as an attorney at Jenner & Block LLP and clerked for judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court of Canada. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.