In 1991, Paulsen became an associate professor at the
University of Minnesota Law School; he was promoted to a full-time professorship in 1998. He was the university's Julius E. Davis Professor from 1998–1999, an associate dean from 2004–2007, and was appointed as the McKnight Presidential Professor of Law & Public Policy in 2004, serving in that position until 2007. In 2007, Paulsen became a professor of law and the Distinguished University Chair at the
University of St. Thomas School of Law.
Legal beliefs Paulsen is a staunch opponent to
Roe v. Wade, describing the case as an
utterly lawless act of judicial invention. == Personal life ==