Michelle Paulson

Interim General Counsel (Legal Director), Wikimedia Foundation

"Where else can you help effect positive change in the world on a daily basis?"

About me

I have been with the Foundation in a variety of legal roles since 2008. I attended the University of California, Berkeley for university and the University of California, Hastings for law school. I am licensed to practice law in California and New York. Personally, I'm a geek about intellectual property, freedom of speech on the internet, online privacy, brewing, food, and travel.

My work

As Interim General Counsel (Legal Director) for the Wikimedia Foundation, I represent and advise the Foundation on a wide array of matters, including community and content issues, contracts, intellectual property, international law, licensing, litigation, policy, and privacy. I have the immense privilege of helping defend the community's work and fighting to protect the right to freely disseminate the world's collective knowledge.

For legal ethical reasons I (as well as the rest of the legal team) can only represent the Wikimedia Foundation and cannot be the attorney for the community or chapters, though the legal team often provides strong support to the community in many ways consistent with Wikimedia Foundation goals.

Disclaimer: I work for or provide services to the Wikimedia Foundation, and this is the account I try to use for edits or statements I make in that role. However, the Foundation does not vet all my activity, so edits, statements, or other contributions made by this account may not reflect the views of the Foundation. The legal team can only represent the Wikimedia Foundation on legal matters, so we are unable to give legal advice to others, including community members, editors, or contributors. Communications with members of the legal team are not consultations and do not create any confidential relationship.

Contact me

E-mail: mpaulsonwikimedia.org (PGP - A871 EB05 60BB F11F 0967 598D 5821 FD44 18CC DD7A)
LinkedIn profile
IRC: mpaulson