Sharon Reich Paulsen
Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel
Senior Advisor to the President
- J.D. from Stanford Law School
- B.A. in Economics from Yale University
General Counsel
Office of the President
BIO
Sharon Reich Paulsen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics, summa cum laude, from Yale University, and her Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School, where she was note editor of the Stanford Law Review and received the Board of Editors Award for her editorial contributions.
After clerking for the Honorable Harlington Wood Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, she joined the U.S. Department of Justice through the Civil Division Honors Program and served as a trial attorney, primarily engaged in constitutional litigation. She later joined the Business Litigation Department of Faegre & Benson (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP) in Minneapolis, where she handled a wide range of business and employment disputes, until she entered academia as Associate Dean at the University of Minnesota Law School.
As Associate Dean, Ms. Paulsen revamped the University of Minnesota Law School’s legal writing program and trial practice program, created a new moot court program, a new civil litigation concentration, a Master of Science in Patent Law program, and a summer mock trial institute. For the majority of her time at the law school, she also served as Senior Associate Dean for Administration, overseeing all aspects of the administrative operation, including admissions and career services, and she advised the dean on innovation, strategic planning, and experiential learning. Teaching responsibilities included Conflict of Laws, Trial Practice, Judicial Externship, and a variety of litigation-related courses.
Ms. Paulsen took a leave from the law school from 2004 to 2011 to serve as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief of Staff to the Provost of the University of Minnesota. As AVP for Academic Affairs, she played a leading role in overseeing and implementing the academic side of the university’s system-wide strategic planning effort. As chief advisor to the provost, she was the liaison with senior campus academic and administrative leaders, ensuring effective implementation of academic initiatives, handling grievances and legal issues, preparing and implementing the annual work plan for the Office of the Provost, and supervising all professional and support staff as well as daily management and operations in the Provost’s Office. She returned to the position of Associate Dean at the University of Minnesota Law School in 2012.
Ms. Paulsen has taught in China and Sweden, and has traveled five times to Uzbekistan to engage in rule of law work funded by the U.S. State Department. She has served on numerous boards, including the Lawyer’s Professional Responsibility Board in Minnesota. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Foundation.
Ms. Paulsen joined the leadership team at ¶¶Òõ̽̽ in 2016. From 2022-2024, she served in senior leadership positions at The George Washington University, before returning to ¶¶Òõ̽̽ as Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel, and Senior Advisor to the President.
Selected Publications
- Advocacy on Appeal (West Academic 2001, 2004, 2008, 2021) (new edition forthcoming)
- Civil Litigation: Pretrial Case Development and Discovery (West Academic 2016, 2021)
- Successful First Depositions (West Academic 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016) (new edition forthcoming)
- Epilogue to An Unmarked Trail: The Odyssey of a Federal Judge (H.C. Johnson Press 2008)
- The Woman as Employer, in Women’s Legal Guide (Barbara R. Hauser ed., Fulcrum 1996)
Awards and Achievements
- Elected member of
- Elected member of the
- Board of Editors’ Award, Stanford Law Review
- William M. Massee Prize for senior thesis, Department of Economics, Yale University
Bio
Sharon Reich Paulsen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics, summa cum laude, from Yale University, and her Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School, where she was note editor of the Stanford Law Review and received the Board of Editors Award for her editorial contributions.
After clerking for the Honorable Harlington Wood Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, she joined the U.S. Department of Justice through the Civil Division Honors Program and served as a trial attorney, primarily engaged in constitutional litigation. She later joined the Business Litigation Department of Faegre & Benson (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP) in Minneapolis, where she handled a wide range of business and employment disputes, until she entered academia as Associate Dean at the University of Minnesota Law School.
As Associate Dean, Ms. Paulsen revamped the University of Minnesota Law School’s legal writing program and trial practice program, created a new moot court program, a new civil litigation concentration, a Master of Science in Patent Law program, and a summer mock trial institute. For the majority of her time at the law school, she also served as Senior Associate Dean for Administration, overseeing all aspects of the administrative operation, including admissions and career services, and she advised the dean on innovation, strategic planning, and experiential learning. Teaching responsibilities included Conflict of Laws, Trial Practice, Judicial Externship, and a variety of litigation-related courses.
Ms. Paulsen took a leave from the law school from 2004 to 2011 to serve as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief of Staff to the Provost of the University of Minnesota. As AVP for Academic Affairs, she played a leading role in overseeing and implementing the academic side of the university’s system-wide strategic planning effort. As chief advisor to the provost, she was the liaison with senior campus academic and administrative leaders, ensuring effective implementation of academic initiatives, handling grievances and legal issues, preparing and implementing the annual work plan for the Office of the Provost, and supervising all professional and support staff as well as daily management and operations in the Provost’s Office. She returned to the position of Associate Dean at the University of Minnesota Law School in 2012.
Ms. Paulsen has taught in China and Sweden, and has traveled five times to Uzbekistan to engage in rule of law work funded by the U.S. State Department. She has served on numerous boards, including the Lawyer’s Professional Responsibility Board in Minnesota. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Foundation.
Ms. Paulsen joined the leadership team at ¶¶Òõ̽̽ in 2016. From 2022-2024, she served in senior leadership positions at The George Washington University, before returning to ¶¶Òõ̽̽ as Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel, and Senior Advisor to the President.
Selected Publications
- Advocacy on Appeal (West Academic 2001, 2004, 2008, 2021) (new edition forthcoming)
- Civil Litigation: Pretrial Case Development and Discovery (West Academic 2016, 2021)
- Successful First Depositions (West Academic 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016) (new edition forthcoming)
- Epilogue to An Unmarked Trail: The Odyssey of a Federal Judge (H.C. Johnson Press 2008)
- The Woman as Employer, in Women’s Legal Guide (Barbara R. Hauser ed., Fulcrum 1996)
Awards and Achievements
- Elected member of
- Elected member of the
- Board of Editors’ Award, Stanford Law Review
- William M. Massee Prize for senior thesis, Department of Economics, Yale University