Amanda Kay Seals | Atlanta Circuit, Post 30

Candidate Statement

Two things led me to run for this open post this biennium. First, a cadre of lawyers I respect and admire—both within my firm and beyond—have served on the Board of Governors. Several of them encouraged me to run, and I’m excited about being a part of a new generation of leadership for the Bar and the state we serve.

Second, our profession confronts a simultaneous crisis in access to justice alongside unlicensed practice. This year, I watched a woman sacrifice potentially valuable claims because the self-appointed “legal advocate” “representing” her did more harm than good. My client was a third-party subpoena recipient who asked me not to report the unlicensed practice, worrying it could lead to escalation and retaliation against them. In another instance, I learned of a lawyer’s abandonment of a representation but was similarly unable to report what appeared to be an obvious violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct because—again—the client feared, reasonably, that even an anonymous report would lead back to them.

The Bar should reinforce obligations of lawyers to report unlicensed practice and other obvious professional responsibility violations, while also incentivizing lawyers to fill the gap in access to justice by providing limited continuing legal education credit for pro bono services in underserved communities. This is a model already used by other states, including Tennessee, and would mitigate the crisis Georgia faces.

Education

• South Carolina Honors College, University of South Carolina, 2008
• University of Georgia School of Law, 2012

Personal/Family

• I live in Decatur with my husband and two children.
• I’m an active parishioner at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany. In the winter, I ski as much as I possibly can, and the rest of the year, I follow my husband around the golf course and piddle in my garden.

Professional Background, Bar Activities, Civic Activities

• I am a partner with Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, where I began my career in 2014. I have argued in the Eleventh Circuit, Court of Appeals of Georgia and Supreme Court of Georgia and have spent more than 13 weeks in trial since 2017, trying cases in both state and federal courts. I have also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia School of Law since 2019, and I have a robust pro bono practice focused largely on issues facing LGBTQ Georgians.
• Before joining Bondurant, I clerked for Hon. Joel F. Dubina of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and Hon. W. Keith Watkins of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. I worked in a public defender’s office for two years before attending law school.
• I chaired the Georgia High School Mock Trial Competition in 2018–19, during which term Georgia also hosted the National High School Mock Trial Competition in Athens. Before that, I was a High School Mock Trial Committee member. I am also admitted to practice in Tennessee.
• In 2022, the Daily Report listed me as a Georgia Lawyer “On The Rise.” Beginning in 2019 and as recently as 2024, I was named a Georgia Rising Star. In 2017, the University of Georgia School of Law awarded me its inaugural Young Alumni of Excellence Award.
• Since 2015, I have volunteered with Kate’s Club, a nonprofit organization that empowers children and young adults facing life after the death of a parent or sibling.