Amanda Lee Wetzel is a litigation associate at Ford O’Brien LLP. She specializes in white collar criminal defense as well as commercial litigation and arbitration, and brings particular expertise to matters with transatlantic elements. She has worked as a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York and with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in Paris and has handled commercial and criminal litigation matters in the U.S. and French courts. She also has experience litigating before the European Court of Human Rights and other international human rights forums. Amanda clerked on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, was the Dean Acheson Legal Stage at the European Court of Justice, and served as a legal fellow on the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where she worked on treaties.

Amanda is a member of the New York bar. She is fluent in French and practiced French law as a member of the Paris bar from 2014 through 2016. Amanda holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School, a Master 1 in French law and a Master 2 in international commercial law from Université Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, and a LL.M. in human rights law from the Queen’s University of Belfast School of Law in Northern Ireland. Amanda completed her undergraduate education in international politics at Penn State University’s Schreyer Honors College.

Bar Admissions

New York, 2009

Paris, 2014-2017

Education

Columbia Law School, New York, New York

J.D. – 2008Honors: Harlan Fiske Stone ScholarLaw Review: Columbia Human Rights Law Review

Université Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France

Maîtrise en droit – 2008Major: French Law

Université Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France

Master 2 – 2008Major: International Commercial Law

Queen’s University School of Law, Belfast, Northern Ireland

LL.M. – 2003Honors: Distinction

The Pennsylvania State University, Schreyer Honors College

B.A. – 2002Honors: Interdisciplinary Honors in International Politics and GeographyMajor: International Politics