Paula Michele Ellison joined the Commission in 1995 as Deputy Associate General Counsel in the Litigation Division. Before joining the Commission, she was a partner with the law firm of Williams and Connolly. She became an associate at the firm in 1983 and was selected to become the first African American female partner in 1989.

She began her career as a law clerk for the Honorable Damon J. Keith in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Detroit, Michigan and for the Honorable Paul R. Webber III in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. She received a B.A. in Political Science from Duke University and a J.D.cum laude from Howard University Law School.