James C. Ho

Jim is the Solicitor General of Texas. As the State’s chief appellate lawyer, he leads an office of 22 attorneys responsible for litigating and counseling officials on the most significant legal issues facing Texas. Appointed by Attorney General Greg Abbott, he is the first Asian American to hold the office.

An experienced appellate, constitutional, and business litigator, Jim has personally handled over 30 matters as lead counsel, with a win-loss record to date of 21-1-1. He has presented 19 oral arguments and litigated successfully in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state appellate courts nationwide, and trial courts throughout Texas. As the chief U.S. Supreme Court litigator for the State of Texas, he won two Supreme Court Best Brief Awards from the National Association of Attorneys General, led Texas to the highest win rate at the Court of any Texas Solicitor General, and was the only state solicitor general ever invited by the Court to express the views of a state. He has also testified before Congress and the Texas Legislature and advocated before federal and state agencies and in other adversarial settings.

Jim has over a decade of federal and state government experience—including service in all three branches of the federal government. He served on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff as chief counsel to U.S. Senator John Cornyn, the Subcommittee on the Constitution, and the Subcommittee on Immigration. He worked at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office of Legal Counsel and the Civil Rights Division. He also served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before law school, he was a legislative aide to California State Senator Quentin L. Kopp of San Francisco.

His record of public service also includes appointments to various boards and commissions, including the Continuity of Government Commission, established in the wake of 9/11, and the U.S. delegation to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. He is actively involved in judicial appointments as co-chair of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Judiciary Committee and as a member of the U.S. Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel, Northern District of Texas, and the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, which advises U.S. Senators on judicial appointments in Texas.

In private practice, Jim was a member of the national Appellate and Constitutional Law practice group of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, one of the world’s most respected law firms.

In addition, Jim has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas Law School, where he taught U.S. Supreme Court Litigation, and as a Senior Editor of The Green Bag. He is also a frequent author and lecturer and an active member of numerous civic and leadership organizations.

Jim has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in appellate and constitutional law by Texas Monthly, one of 25 “Extraordinary Minorities in Texas Law” by Texas Lawyer, one of the “Best Lawyers under 40” by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and one of the best 35 Congressional aides under 35 by The Hill, and has been described as “one of the nation’s most promising lawyers” (National Law Journal) and as the state’s legal “big gun” (Texas Tribune). He has received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award for his work at the Justice Department, the Frank Wheat Award for Outstanding Achievements in Pro Bono, and the Lee Liberman Otis Award from the Federalist Society and the University of Chicago. He has also received the Presidential Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the Justice David Wellington Chew Award from the State Bar of Texas, and has been recognized for his contributions to the legal profession by both the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce and the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership.

Taiwanese by birth and Texan by marriage, Jim graduated from Stanford University with honors and a B.A. in Public Policy, and the University of Chicago Law School with high honors. He is married to Allyson Ho, a Houston native and co-chair of the appellate practice at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.