She started working in the Ministry of Justice and the Police in 1971. She was promoted gradually to assistant secretary in 1978, and from 1983 to 1986 she was a legal adviser. She was an acting presiding judge in Eidsivating Court of Appeal for a brief period in 1986, before working in the Office of the Attorney General of Norway from 1986 to 1988. She was also a member of the National Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics from 1981 to 1993.
