Dena Sharp is a 2006 graduate, cum laude, of the University of California, Hastings College of Law, where she was a member of the Thurston Society and was the recipient of the Best Oral Advocate Award. She was also the recipient of the Witkin award in her Legal Writing and Criminal Law courses. She received her undergraduate degree in history, magna cum laude, from Brown University in 1997. Ms. Sharp was a summer 2005 extern for the Honorable Phyllis J. Hamilton of the United States District Court, Northern District of California. Ms. Sharp also served as a spring 2005 extern for the Honorable John E. Munter, San Francisco Superior Court.
She was twice selected as a Rising Star by Law & Politics Magazine (in 2009 and 2010), recognizing her as one of the best young attorneys practicing in Northern California. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco and the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. Ms. Sharp is admitted to the California Bar. She is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern Districts of California.