Ashleigh grew up as the oldest of four in the River Valley area. As a kid, she played basketball at Pocola and rode horses with the Greenwood Round-Up Club and Old Fort Days Dandies. Her favorite memories from her childhood are trail riding with one grandfather and talking news and politics with her other grandfather. As a teenager, Ashleigh was active in local theater productions with the Fort Smith Little Theater and Southside High School. She was a member of the Southworld school newspaper staff at Southside High School and was recognized by the National Federation of Press Women with a nationwide award for her writing in 2001 and also by the Arkansas Press Women that same year. She graduated with Honors from Southside High School in 2003.

Ashleigh graduated magna cum laude from the Honors College at the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and was on the Dean’s List every semester. While attending college at the University of Arkansas, Ashleigh fell in love with the Razorbacks and never missed a football game. Her favorite days at the U of A, though, were in the Spring when the weather was just right for a day at Baum Stadium. Her senior year was spent working on her thesis titled, “The Impact of Women in the Arkansas State Legislature.”

Ashleigh attended the University of Arkansas School of Law and received her Juris Doctorate degree in 2010. As a law student, Ashleigh was a member of the National Trial Competition and American Association for Justice mock trial teams and competed in nationwide competitions. In 2009, she and her partner became the first all-female team to win the William H. Sutton Trial Competition and she was recognized as Best Oralist in appellate advocacy in 2008.   She was a Regional Semifinalist in the National Trial Competition and appeared on the Dean’s List each year from 2007-2010.

After law school, Ashleigh worked as an Associate with the law firm of Leitner, Williams, Dooley, & Napolitan in Memphis, Tennessee where she represented Fortune 500 companies and large national corporations in litigation, gaining valuable trial and courtroom experience in trucking, car wreck, slip and fall, and other personal injury cases.

Driven by her passion to serve the people of her hometown, Ashleigh returned to Sebastian County to serve as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney focusing on prosecuting crimes against children and domestic abuse.

As a Deputy Prosecutor, Ashleigh applied and was selected by the National District Attorneys’ Association to attend the National Trial Advocacy Academy where she gained valuable trial skills and a deeper knowledge of the rules of evidence.

 During that time, she received an offer to begin working as a federal prosecutor for the United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas. 

As an Assistant United States Attorney, Ashleigh worked in the Project Safe Childhood Division and prosecuted cases of online exploitation and sexual abuse against children.  She was a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force with the United States Department of Homeland Security and collaborated with local and federal law enforcement agencies in the River Valley to catch and imprison the most depraved of child predators.  As a federal prosecutor, Ashleigh was also a member of the Child Abduction Response Team led by the Morgan Nick Foundation and she worked closely with the United States Marshals to track down and unregistered sex offenders crossing state lines and prosecute them under the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.  Ashleigh frequently represented the United States in appellate matters before the United States Eight Circuit Court of Appeals and appeared for oral argument in the case of United States v. John Hill wherein she successfully briefed and argued for more strict requirements and interpretation of federal law governing the interstate travel of sex offenders.  As a federal prosecutor, Ashleigh put numerous child predators in prison for decade-long sentences.

In 2016, Ashleigh and her husband, William Buckley, began to raise a family and that is when Ashleigh shifted to private civil practice to join William in 2017 to form The Buckley Firm, LLC, where she practices law today. 

Over the past eight years in private practice, Ashleigh has represented individuals and families in various civil legal matters such as real estate, probate, construction, contracts, and personal injury. 

In 2018, Ashleigh and William secured a $2.5 million judgment in favor of their client in a wrongful death jury trial.

Ashleigh also has worked on the defense side of criminal matters in representing individuals charged with federal financial crimes.  

For the past three years, Ashleigh has served as an interim Prosecuting Attorney for the City of Fort Smith, assisting with the city misdemeanor criminal caseload.  She further has served as Prosecuting Attorney in DWI Court and RISE Court, which both provide mental health and substance abuse treatment for participants engaged in the alternative sentencing programs of these specialty courts. 

One of Ashleigh’s greatest passions is sharing her love of the law and she was grateful for the opportunity to teach as an adjunct faculty member with the University of Arkansas Fort Smith Legal Department during the 2019 - 2020 academic year. She taught Legal Ethics and Legal Research & Writing I and Legal Research & Writing II to college students interested in pursuing legal careers.

Junior League of Fort Smith 

The Junior League of Fort Smith is an organization of women whose mission is to advance women's leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration and training.

President  (2018-2019)

-Founder of the JLFS College Scholarship for Youth in Foster Care

-Executive officer responsible for organizing and developing leadership and volunteer training for women in the community; presiding over monthly general membership meetings and programs; developing by-laws and policies governing the League; and overseeing community projects and fundraisers serving the League’s mission to develop the potential of women and address the foster care crisis in Sebastian County.

Vice President of Community Impact  ( 2016 to 2017)

Active Member (2013 to 2020)

Sustaining Member (2020 to present)

Sebastian County Bar Association

A professional association of attorneys that seeks to serve the community by promoting the competency, ethics and professionalism of its members.

President (2025 - 2026)

Vice President (2024 - 2025)

Secretary/Treasurer (2023 - 2024)

Member (2012 - present)

Southside High School Mock Trial Team

Coach (2025 to present)

Fort Kids Children’s Museum

Initiated the development plans for a children’s’ museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas and worked with fellow founding board members to secure site plans, architectural designs, capital campaign and multi-year pro forma plans; responsible for meeting with donors and community leaders to secure funding for the construction of the museum; responsible for developing governance plans for the Fort Kids Board including drafting bylaws and board member policies.

Founding Board Member (2022 to present)

Vice President (2022 to 2024)

Outreach Chair (2024 to present)

Mercy Health Foundation Board of Advisors

Non-profit organization that supports health care needs of local citizens and the Mercy mission of delivering compassionate care to the community.

Board Member (2023 to present)

Women with a Mission Member (2024 to present)

Girls, Inc.

Fulfills the Girls. Inc. mission of inspiring girls to be strong, smart, and bold by being a role model, advocate, or volunteer in the community.

Women with Vision Member (2023 through present)

Grace’s Toy Closet

Board Member & Secretary (2023 through present)

Nonprofit charity organization benefiting oncology patients at Arkansas Children's Hospital Northwest through the collection of toy donations.

University of Arkansas Alumni Association

The Arkansas Alumni Association, Inc. is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization that seeks to connect alumni, friends and students to the University of Arkansas and each other.

National Board of Directors Member (2019 to 2022)

Fort Smith Chapter Leader (2018-2019)

Assisted with local alumni events and a member of the annual scholarship review teams reviewing scholarship applications for local and nationwide students from 2018 - 2023.

Community Services Clearinghouse

Non-profit organization that provides meals for children in need on weekends and during school breaks in the River Valley area.

Board of Directors & Community Outreach Committee (2017 - 2020)

University of Arkansas Fort Smith - Women’s Basketball Team

Guest Coach & Mentor (2024 - 2025)

Arkansas Animal Rescue Foundation

Board Member (2012 - 2015)

A private non-profit foundation providing grant funds and resources to statewide animal shelters and animal rescue programs.