Attorney Adviser, Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State; Adjunct Professor of Law
Amanda J. Wall
B.A., University of Chicago; M.A., University of Chicago; J.D., Georgetown
B.A., University of Chicago; M.A., University of Chicago; J.D., Georgetown
Amanda Wall is currently serving as Deputy Legal Advisor for the National Security Council staff. She is detailed from the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, where she has served as an attorney advisor since 2012. From 2019-2021, she served in the Political Military Affairs section, where she worked on issues including international humanitarian law, war crimes and accountability, and international law governing use of military force. From 2017-2018, she was the Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser, which included advising on a broad range of international law issues in policy, domestic litigation, and international fora. From 2014-2017, she served in the Human Rights and Refugee Law section, where she focused on international human rights law, in particular the UN Convention Against Torture, human rights related to privacy, and human rights in the context of countering terrorism, countering violent extremism, and armed conflict. She has represented the United States as a member of U.S. Delegations to the UN Human Rights Council; the UN General Assembly Third Committee; the UN Committee Against Torture; the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, including its Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems; the International Court of Justice; and the Pan-American Health Organization. She holds a B.A. and an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago. She graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was on the editorial board of the Georgetown Journal of International Law, and where she has also served as a National Security Crisis Law Fellow. The views expressed are her own views and not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Government.