For the past two years she has specialized in civil rights cases including ballot access, employment litigation, inmate civil rights claims, and public school desegregation litigation. Ali has argued several times before the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals. A graduate of The University of Arkansas Law School, Ali won the Appellate Advocacy Prize and later received an LL.M. degree from American University’s Washington College of Law and its Program on Law and Government, with certification in Constitutional Law and Civil Rights. Her undergraduate degree in history is from Hendrix College in Arkansas.