Allyson N. Ho is co-chair of the Firm’s nationwide Appellate and Constitutional Law practice group and partner in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
She has presented over 100 oral arguments in federal and state courts nationwide, including five high-stakes business cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Chambers has called her “undoubtedly one of the premier appellate lawyers in the United States”—“a magician” who “creates paths to victory that others do not see”—and ranked her among leading appellate advocates every year for the past 15 years. Benchmark Litigation has named her one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation,” a "Litigation Star," and shortlisted her for “Appellate Litigator of the Year.” She is one of the few appellate lawyers nationwide named to the BTI Client Service All-Stars List, recognized by corporate counsel for “delivering the absolute best in client service.” Since 2015, Allyson is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America guide for Appellate Practice. Most recently, Lawdragon named her to its 2025 500 Leading Litigators in America guide, which highlights “the best litigators the U.S. has to offer.”
The American Lawyer has recognized her in its “Litigators of the Week” column every year for the past four years. The National Law Journal has repeatedly featured her on its “Appellate Hot List.” Law360 has honored her as an “Appellate MVP,” “Litigation Powerhouse,” and leading member of the “Employment Group of the Year.” Texas Lawyer has recognized her as a “Distinguished Leader,” “Attorney of the Year Finalist,” leading member of a “Litigation Department of the Year,” and one of the state’s most “Winning Women.”
Federal and State Appellate Practice
Allyson has argued significant business cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in the areas of bankruptcy, patents, ERISA, employment, and administrative law. She has appeared before every federal court of appeals in the country, including en banc arguments before the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Circuits, and successfully represented businesses in every federal circuit. She also regularly represents businesses in state appellate courts across the country, including the Texas Supreme Court, Texas appellate courts in Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Eastland, and state appellate courts in Arizona, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.
Her most significant wins include multiple U.S. Supreme Court decisions overturning decades-old precedent opposed by the business community, several multi-billion dollar and nine-figure reversals in both federal and state appellate courts across the country, and critical class certification reversals and significant constitutional rulings.
National Law Journal called her a “Veteran SCOTUS Advocate” in the “upper echelons of Supreme Court practice.” Law360 named her a “Supreme Court Star” and “one of the nation’s preeminent appellate lawyers.” And EmpiricalSCOTUS.com ranked her among “the most successful attorneys that currently practice before the Court.”
She once argued two significant business cases before the Court within the span of 21 days—including a “significant ruling for employers” that “paved a new path for companies paying millions of dollars in retiree health care benefits” (Law360), and a landmark administrative law dispute in which “several justices agreed with Ho’s contention that SCOTUS should revisit and overrule its own precedent” (Law360). She prevailed against the EEOC in a case that the employment defense bar called “good news for employers across the country.” And in “the most important patent case in modern history” according to patent law experts, her argument before the Court was credited for “pick[ing] up two votes that pundits thought unreachable.”
Government and Public Service Experience
Allyson has a distinguished record of experience at the highest levels of the federal government. She served as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, Counselor to Attorney General John Ashcroft, and law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Jacques L. Wiener Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Her record of public service also includes appointments to various boards and commissions, including the Administrative Conference of the United States, the United States Supreme Court Historical Society, the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, the Federalist Society Board of Visitors, and the Washington Legal Foundation Legal Policy Advisory Board. She is vice chair of the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, appointed by U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to evaluate potential appointments of all federal judges and U.S. Attorneys in Texas. She has also served on the U.S. Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel for the Northern District of Texas. She has testified before Congress on issues of importance to the business community.
Other Background Information
An active pro bono litigator, Allyson works most frequently with First Liberty Institute, the National Organization for Victim Assistance, and the National Crime Victim Law Institute. Her amicus briefs have been repeatedly cited in multiple Supreme Court opinions and during oral argument.
She graduated from Duke University magna cum laude with a B.A. in English, Rice University with an M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature, and the University of Chicago Law School with high honors. She was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif. She and her husband Jim, a federal judge, have a twin daughter and son.
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- University of Chicago Law School - 2000 Juris Doctor
- Rice University - 1994 Ph.D.
- Rice University - 1994 Master of Arts
- Duke University - 1988 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- District of Columbia Bar
- Texas Bar
Clerkships:
- US Supreme Court, Hon. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, 2002 - 2003
- US Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, Hon. Judge Jacques L. Wiener, 2000 - 2001