He attended Clemson University and transferred to North Carolina State University. Edwards graduated with high honors earning a bachelor's degree in textile technology in 1974 and later received his Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law (UNC) with honors.

By law Edwards clerked for a federal judge, and in 1978 became an associate at the Nashville law firm of Dearborn and Ewing, doing primarily trial work, defending a Nashville bank and other commercial customers. The Edwards family returned to North Carolina in 1981, settling in the capital city of Raleigh, where he joined the firm Tharrington, Smith