Angel D. Mitchell was born in Pierre, South Dakota. She was raised in the small town of Mount Ayr, Iowa.  She became a first-generation college graduate when she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Baker University School of Professional & Graduate Studies in 1996.  She then attended the University of Kansas School of Law.  There, she served on the Editorial Board of the University of Kansas Law Review, received several academic achievement awards, and was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for Legal Research & Writing.  She earned her law degree in 2000, graduating Order of the Coif.

Following law school, Judge Mitchell joined Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, LLP as an associate in the firm's commercial litigation practice. Beginning in 2001, she served as a law clerk in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.  She was a law clerk to Magistrate Judge James P. O'Hara from 2001 to 2003, and to U.S. District Judge John W. Lungstrum from 2003 to 2008.

In 2008, Judge Mitchell joined the law firm of Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP. While at the firm, she practiced in intellectual property litigation in which she represented primarily Fortune 100 clients in patent, trademark, and copyright cases in federal district courts throughout the country.  She also handled appellate cases before the Federal Circuit and coordinated litigation efforts with parallel proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  As a partner, she served on several of the firm's governance committees.  She also served on the Bench-Bar Committee for the District of Kansas.

Judge Mitchell was appointed to the bench in 2019 to serve as the U.S. Magistrate Judge in Topeka.