Amanda graduated from East Carolina University then attended Wake Forest University School of Law.  She was in private practice in Southern Pines, NC, for almost 10 years, primarily representing criminal defendants on appeal and in post-conviction proceedings and occasionally representing defendants in trials and pleas in district and superior court.  Amanda joined the Office of the Appellate Defendant as an Assistant Appellate Defender in 2016.  She became the Director of Training, Outreach, and Special Litigation for OAD in December, 2021.