Alison Preston

Alison E. Preston

Alison Preston ("Ali") is an attorney with Creed & Gowdy, P.A.-a Jacksonville appellate firm that handles appeals of all kinds of cases. She joined Creed & Gowdy after practicing in state and federal government and completing several federal judicial clerkships. She clerked for Judge Charles R. Wilson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, as well as Judge Michael P. Allen and several senior judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. She also practiced as a Trial Attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Immediately before joining Creed & Gowdy, she was a Deputy Solicitor General in the Florida Attorney General's Office, handling cases of particular complexity or political sensitivity.

Ali was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. She completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University and law degree at Stetson University. From both, she graduated with high honors, as well as Phi Beta Kappa from Duke. At Stetson Law, she was an editor on the law review and a two-year, award-winning member of the moot court board, among other activities.

Ali has handled appeals in the federal Eleventh Circuit and multiple Florida appellate courts. Her experience also includes handling an issue across several Florida district courts that has created a certified conflict taken by the Florida Supreme Court, as well as an issue in the federal Eleventh Circuit that may result in a federal circuit split.

Publications:

• Author, A Profile in Service: Judge Charles R. Wilson, The Record (Fla. Bar APS) (Feb. 1, 2025)
• Author, Interpretation Post-Conage: We're All Exhaustionists Now, HCBA Law. (Jun. 2023)
• Co-Author, Clerks' Perspective on Clerking and Advocacy Before the Veterans Court, 7 Stetson J. Advoc. & L. 53 (2020)
• Co-Author, Auer Deference Lives On, "Zombified" But Resilient, Fed. Law., Nov./Dec. 2019, at 29
• Co-Author, The Supreme Court Turns Its Attention to Auer Deference, Fed. Law., May/June 2019, at 36

Speaking Engagements:

• Co-moderator, Panel of Eleventh Circuit judges on legal writing, Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (TBCFBA) (expected September 10, 2025)
• Presenter, Jurisdiction & Related Litigation, Office of Statewide Prosecution's 2025 Annual Conference (July 24, 2025)
• Presenter, Redistricting & Related Litigation, TBCFBA's High School Summer Law Camp (June 11, 2025)
• Panelist, Stetson Law Review Scholarship Luncheon (Apr. 4, 2025)
• Presenter, Statutory Interpretation, Stetson Law Review All-Hands Meeting (Mar. 25, 2025)
• Presenter, 2024 Annual Meeting: State of YLD, TBCFBA (Dec. 5, 2024)
• Moderator, Panel on representing law-enforcement agencies, Cheatwood Inn of Court (Dec. 3, 2024)
• Presenter, Jurisdiction & Related Litigation, Office of Statewide Prosecution's 2024 Annual Conference (Fall 2024)
• Panelist, Ask a Lawyer Panel, TBCFBA Summer Camp (Summer 2024)
• Panelist, Navigating the Differences Between State and Federal Practice, Hillsborough Cnty. Bar Ass'n (HCBA) Gov't Laws. Section and TBCFBA Crim. & Gov't Invest. Comm. (Spring 2024)
• Panelist, Stetson Law Review Bluebook Workshop & Judicial Clerkship Discussion (Fall 2023)
• Panelist, Judicial Clerkship Panel, TBCFBA (Summer 2020)