Amanda Reese

What inspired you to get into law?

I sometimes describe myself as an accidental attorney, because my original area of focus was veterinary medicine. For a variety of reasons, I shifted away from that path and began pursuing medical school – when two of my medical ethics professors at UW-Madison encouraged me to think about law school. After they nudged me to think about a different path, I signed up to take the LSAT, and was offered a spot with Northern Illinois University right away, so I attended law school 2002-2005. I’ve been in healthcare focused roles, either in the human or veterinary medical industries, or health technology my entire career. As

of this summer, it’s been about 20 years!

When you said you focused on veterinary and other medical roles throughout your career, were you still practicing law throughout?

I’ve practiced law full-time with the exception of one role in the veterinary field, in 2015. I stepped away from legal practice to explore something different, and worked as the administrator of a specialty and emergency veterinary practice here in the Madison area. I enjoyed it – I worked on a little bit of anything and everything related to the business of veterinary medicine and had a chance to blend together what I’d learned on the human side of medicine, too. I missed practicing law and using my legal background, though, and about the time I began thinking of a change again UW- Madison recruited me to become their HIPAA Privacy Officer. I worked there until I joined Epic in 2021.

You said your original path, and interest, was medicine. As a lawyer at Epic, which as a company works a lot with healthcare, how do you get to see more of that interest in your work?

First, I should mention: my undergraduate education was very focused on science and math. I enjoyed every class I’d taken with a medical aspect to it, including medical history and medical ethics. I also have a pretty high percentage of family members who work in different areas of medicine, and in different roles throughout the human healthcare industry, so I’d spent a fair amount of time in different medical facilities over the years and always tried to ask a lot of questions about what everyone did. I also really loved reading about research applications and the different advances in medicine. Throughout my career, even though I’m on the legal side, I get to support the delivery of healthcare. While I don’t provide care myself, I have a lot of respect for people who do. I’ve always worked very closely with all levels of healthcare clinicians. That is still true today even in a technology-focused legal role.

What does a typical day look like for you here at Epic?

I would say I don’t necessarily have a “standard,” or “typical” day. Each day differs a little bit, and it is driven by customer needs, what is happening politically, what new laws and regulations are proposed, etc. The unifying theme across all of the work I'm involved in is an element of problem-solving. I might work on contracts, priority questions or concerns, policy development, media inquiries, or join meetings with

customers. I love the wide variety of projects because it makes the work interesting – and I love that my days aren’t always the same.

Do you have a preference in your work between actively working with other people versus solo, research-oriented jobs?

I personally prefer a blend. I like to interact with customers, especially because I enjoy the problem-solving aspects. If I get pulled into a project, people usually look to me to help them understand what guidelines or rules to follow, and what their options are. It’s a good feeling to be able to help address someone’s questions and leave them feeling more informed. People don’t always want to interact with attorneys, often because it

might seem intimidating – so if I can help without the need for a meeting, I’ll try that where it seems appropriate; also, I consider it a true compliment when someone is appreciative of my help, whether it requires working together or each working independently.

What I do is definitely paper- intensive, but I enjoy it. I like reading white papers, research articles, or picking apart laws and regulations… One of the other things I’ve enjoyed, especially about my time here at Epic, is that I have the opportunity to focus on a variety of international privacy laws because our customer base is global, and I have opportunities to work with people around the world and think about issues from

different perspectives, with different cultural considerations.

Let’s talk about role models. How did mentors in different stages of your life inspire and guide you to where you are today?

I’ve had a number of different mentors. Some of them were veterinarians, some were physicians, some were attorneys. Others have been friends of my parents. Nothing was ever structured – it was never a conscious decision by either them or me to form a mentorship. In each of those different relationships, whomever it was, they were open to me peppering them with zillions of questions. When you have the luxury to work with and shadow people who are good at and love what they do, it’s really inspiring. Even if you don’t end up doing exactly what they do, a lot of the same characteristics and traits that help them success in their work can be things you model in your own profession or personal life. I’m a firm believer that you have to nurture those kinds of connections, and stay in touch to people whose backgrounds and areas of focus differ from your own.

You mentioned good communication with your mentors. What skills, in addition to that, have helped you succeed in your work?

A number of different things that have helped. Communication is key, as is listening. Respect is also very important; I also believe it helps to understand where a person comes from and who a person truly is: What’s their personality like? What makes them tick? I also think it’s been helpful to learn more about different communication styles and how to communicate effectively with people based on their preferences. The more I ask questions of other people, the more unique aspects I learn about them that give me a

better understanding of their opinions and styles, and how we can work well together. I think learning about these styles and focusing on people is really important. No matter what a person works on, they have to be able to communicate and explain what they do.

Early in my career - only in my third year of practicing, I believe - a few supervisors at UW Health nominated me to participate in a series of leadership development courses. I am forever grateful that they nominated me and thought those would be good experiences for me; they were. The cohorts of other future leaders brought me together with professionals from distinctly different backgrounds. I often was the only attorney, though we all worked in healthcare administration – in different business lines. The opportunities gave me a much broader perspective of how my work fit within the context of UW Health’s environment. From there, I quickly built on that and appreciated more about the healthcare landscape. Sometimes it’s a great exercise to consider ideas that go beyond your own area of expertise – because the more ways you

can identify to do that, the more effective you can be on your own professional path and the more effectively you can work with others. 

What sort of challenges or discrimination have you faced as a woman in the professional field, and how did you overcome them?

It’s been challenging to be one of the only women at the table in a male-dominated setting, and I have always worked in those environments. There are more and more women in healthcare right now, but in the roles that I typically interact with, the landscape is predominantly male. I work well with the men around me, but I definitely notice how I am perceived differently, and how people might make assumptions about

me based on stereotypes – often before we’ve even met, and still today Early in my career, I was usually the only woman in the room during meetings, and the youngest as well. I was often mistaken as an administrative assistant or clerical support, and that was especially frustrating… Assumptions about me often came from a lack of awareness, and from presumptions that I now try to dispel whenever I can. I now find myself compelled to speak up for others when I can, at work and on the personal side as well. f I see someone interacting differently with a woman than they would with a man, or something that seems inappropriate, I will definitely say something. Everyone is deserving of respect, and it’s never fun to be treated otherwise.  

I happen to have one-sided deafness in my right ear. I supplement my lack of hearing byreading lips and trying to get to places early enough that I can be in the right spot. Because I don’t hear as well, I rely on [non-spoken] cues and I pick up on things others might not notice. That allows me to make up for what I don’t hear, and it also allows me to pick up on quite a bit of gender discrimination. I also recognize accessibility challenges, and how the way something is designed might unintentionally exclude populations. 

I’ve definitely noticed and encountered some challenges over the years; some were intentional, and those experiences have certainly shaped me. Part of what keeps me going is a motivation to not only address those challenges, but to also prevent someone else from going through the same experience in the future. Whether I face discrimination for any reason (and now it could be due to my gender, my disability, or my age), I try to use the same framework of problem-solving that I bring to my work. If I think of something as a challenge, it’s something I can explore solutions for. It probably helps that I’m ‘optimistically wired.’ While I appreciate the reality of the world we live in, I like to stay a bit more positive-minded – and that’s helped me tackle challenges over the years.

What advice would you give to young people looking to go into difficult fields?

If you find something you love, run with it! Learn about it, explore it, take classes. Today, we have community festivals and workshops for almost any kind of interest a person has – and so many opportunities to consider. Keep learning about different styles and cultures – and do whatever you can to keep your mind refreshed. It’s equally important to learn how to recharge. When you need to take a break from what you’re learning or working on, you should know how to disconnect and re-set.

Any parting words? How do you gauge effectiveness in your role today?

If I’m effective in my role, I’ve probably helped someone behind-the-scenes – to avoid a problem or navigate a detailed or complex issue. When I do that effectively, I help others reach positive outcomes, or at a minimum help them avoid finding themselves on the receiving end of negative attention. The value I bring keeps things moving and lets everyone focus on what they do best – so we can all thrive.

July 29, 2025