Samantha Stafford earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was an extern at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in their civil division and at the Legal Aid Society. During law school, she was Article Selection Editor for the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change and a research assistant for Professor Noah Rosenblum.

Prior to law school, she worked as a government and public services consultant at Deloitte LLP.