[1][3] She was an assistant attorney general of Pennsylvania Department of Justice from 1972 to 1974, thereafter entering private practice in New Kensington until 1981.

[3][2] As a prosecutor, she was part of the team handling the "Kill for Thrill" case against John Lesko and Michael Travaglia, who were convicted of slaying four people in Western Pennsylvania in 1979 and 1980.

[1] While on the federal bench, Ambrose presided over the civil trial against Atlantic Richfield and Babcock & Wilcox, and others, alleging that radioactive emissions from its nuclear-fuel facility in Apollo caused a cancer cluster in the surrounding area.

[6] In 2022, Ambrose presided over pretrial hearings in the federal death penalty case against Robert Bowers, who was indicted on charges of murdering 11 congregants in a gun massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

[2][1] Ambrose retired (assumed inactive senior status) on February 1, 2022, after 28 years on the federal bench.