Amanda is the firm’s immigration senior counsel, working in the Pro Bono Practice Group. She is a dedicated human rights attorney with experience in a wide spectrum of humanitarian immigration law, including vast knowledge in affirmative and defensive asylum representation. She leads Shook’s pro bono immigration practice, where she advances the firm’s commitment to social justice by supporting its attorneys who represent noncitizens seeking protection in the United States. In this role, Amanda provides guidance and training to Shook attorneys to ensure that clients are represented zealously and effectively.
Before joining Shook, Amanda served as a managing attorney at the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), one of the country’s leading immigration advocacy organizations. Over the course of her 10-year career at NIJC, Amanda represented survivors of torture, sex and labor trafficking and other forms of violence in their immigration proceedings. She began her career representing unaccompanied children detained by the Office of Refugee Resettlement in a variety of protection claims including asylum, T visas, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and U visas. She later focused her practice on representing individuals and families seeking asylum, with a particular focus on women and girls fleeing gender-based violence. She has litigated countless matters before the immigration court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Department of Homeland Security. Amanda has also served as a Qualified Representative for individuals deemed incompetent to represent themselves in their immigration proceedings.
Not only has Amanda herself litigated a wide range of immigration matters, but she also has extensive experience managing teams of attorneys in their work representing asylum seekers and providing pro se assistance to unrepresented noncitizens. She has collaborated with pro bono attorneys to create and implement innovative projects to ensure access to justice for noncitizens seeking protection. Amanda has trained and provided technical support to pro bono attorneys across the country in their representation of asylum seekers.
Amanda has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA) since 2015 and has served for more than eight years as co-chair of the Asylum Office Liaison Committee for the Chicago Chapter of AILA. She is regularly invited to guest lecture and present at conferences about asylum-related issues.
Presentations
Co-presenter, The Future of Non-State Actor PSGs in Litigating Asylum Claims, 2025 AILA Upper Midwest Immigration Law Conference, May 30, 2025.
Co-Presenter, The New Immigration Landscape: What has Changed and What is Changing, NIJC Updates for Legal Services Network, February 7, 2025.
Co-Presenter, Immigration Law & Policy: Drivers, Response, and Recommendations, Loyola University Chicago Rodin Center for Social Justice, April 19, 2024.
Co-Presenter, Chicago Migrant Initiative: Assisting Families Seeking Asylum, Jones Day, March 7, 2024.
Guest Lecturer, Nuts and Bolts of Filing an Asylum Application, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, September 19, 2023.
Presenter, The Asylum Merits Interview (AMI) Process: A General Overview of the New Process, Procedures, and Recent Experience, AILA Chicago, February 13, 2023.
Guest Lecturer, Asylum and Gender-Related Particular Social Groups, Refugee Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, October 4, 2022.
Guest Lecturer, Seeking Refuge: Our Legal and Moral Obligations to Those Asking for Protection at Our Border, Jane Addams Lecture, Lewis University School of Social Work, March 29, 2022.
Co-Presenter, Strength In the Face Of Struggle, Stories From Our Community, NIJC Justice and Java, November 16, 2021.
Co-Presenter, Defending the Right to Asylum: A Sisyphean Task, NIJC Policy Corner, October 6, 2020.
Presenter, Basics of Asylum Law, Kovler Center Child Trauma Program, March 6, 2020.
Co-Presenter, Asylum Ban & ‘Asylum Cooperation’ Agreements, 2019 AILA Chicago Fall Conference, October 18, 2019.
Presenter, Basics of Asylum Law, GirlForward, August 22, 2019.
Presenter, Significant Policy Changes for Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum Before USCIS, AILA Chicago, August 12, 2019.
Co-presenter, Access to Justice for Asylum Seekers, Baker McKenzie, March 13, 2019.
Co-Presenter, Seeking Asylum in the United States, Stateless: Views of Global Migration, Museum of Contemporary Photography, January 25, 2019.
Presenter, Asylum 101, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, November 5, 2018.
Co-Presenter, Advanced Asylum Topics: Applying for Asylum after Matter of A-B-, AILA Ohio Fall Conference, October 12, 2018.
Co-Presenter, Addressing Bias Representing Asylum Seekers With Diminished Capacity, Upper Midwest Immigration Law Conference, May 19, 2017.