Before joining the University of Oregon law school faculty in 1992, Margaret L. 'Margie' Paris practiced criminal law for six years in Chicago. She specialized in the defense of white-collar prosecutions with the law firm of Cotsirilos, Tighe & Streicker Ltd.

She teaches advanced appellate advocacy, criminal law, criminal investigation, and criminal adjudication. She received the Orlando John Hollis Faculty Teaching Award, the law school's highest teaching honor.

Paris served as associate dean for academic affairs for four years before being named dean in 2006.

Her scholarly work focuses on criminal law and procedure issues. She is the coauthor of Constitutional Criminal Procedure, 2nd edition (Foundation Press 2003).

Paris is a native of Chicago who earned a B.A., with distinction, and a J.D. (Coif) from Northwestern University. She was editor-in-chief of Northwestern University Law Review. After graduation from law school, she clerked for Judge Joel Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

She served as the editorial board vice-chair of Criminal Justice, the ABA's Criminal Justice Section magazine, and as co-reporter for the Constitution Project's Death Penalty Initiative.

Her bar memberships include the state bar of Illinois, as well as the United States Supreme Court, Tax Court, Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Seventh Circuits, and District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois, Northern District of Indiana, and Eastern District of Michigan.