[2] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vassar College in 1965 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1968.

In 1991, Motz returned to the public sector, appointed as an associate judge for the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

Motz was nominated by President Bill Clinton on January 27, 1994, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 104 Stat.

[3] Her husband, J. Frederick Motz, had been appointed a federal district court judge by President Ronald Reagan in 1985.

[8][9] In July 2019, the full circuit en banc reversed the panel by a vote of 8-7, with Motz now writing for the majority.