She served as an associate at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2007 to 2010.

[6] In November 2023, the Tampa Police Department released a statement stating her husband had been arrested on allegations of human trafficking.

[10] On November 12, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on her nomination.

On November 17, 2014, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 68–28 vote.

[13] In May 2024, NPR revealed that Gardner had received free travel in 2022 to the Sage Lodge Colloquium, a privately funded legal seminar hosted at a resort in Montana's Paradise Valley, but had failed to disclose this on her required annual financial disclosure report for that year, in violation of federal law.