ball was a clerk for the massachusetts supreme judicial court from 1990 to 1991. he worked for the legal aid society as a criminal defense attorney from 1991 to 1993. ball was served as legal council for hiv and tuberculosis policy for the new york city department of health and mental hygiene from 1993 to 1994. he taught at university of illinois college of law and penn state law where he was a professor of law and the weiss family distinguished faculty scholar. in 2008, ball joined the faculty at rutgers law school as a professor of law and judge frederick lacey scholar. in july 2013, he became a distinguished professor of law at rutgers. his work focuses on lgbt rights issues. he teaches courses on sexuality and gender identity law, the first amendment, and constitutional law.