[2] Ali received a Bachelor of Software Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada in 2008 and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2011.

[11][12] In 2016, Ali argued for the petitioner in Welch v. United States, obtaining an 7–1 majority opinion that the Supreme Court's prior determination in Johnson v. United States; which determined the Residual Clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act was unconstitutionally vague, constituted a substantive rule change and was therefore retroactive.

[16] Williams had been wrongfully convicted of capital murder in 1998 at the age of 16, and spent over twenty years at Angola Penitentiary.

[17] In 2019, Ali argued for the petitioner in Garza v. Idaho, and obtained a 6–3 majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court establishing that a criminal defendant has the constitutional right to an appeal that has been forfeited by his attorney, even if the defendant's plea agreement states that it waives the right of appeal.

[18][19][20] In 2022, Ali argued for the petitioner in Thompson v. Clark, and obtained a 6–3 majority opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh recognizing a federal cause of action against police officers who pursue false charges against someone.