In 1992, Sharkey graduated with a bachelor's degree in Economics from Yale University, summa cum laude, where she was tapped for Skull and Bones.
She went on to Magdalen College, Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, graduating in 1994 with a master of science in Economics for Development, with honors and with distinction.
[2] Her scholarship focuses on torts, punitive damages, class actions, remedies, products liability, administrative law, and empirical legal studies.
[3] Previously, she taught at Columbia Law School and practiced as an appellate litigation associate at Mayer Brown in New York.
[6][7] Sharkey is occasionally mentioned as a potential future United States Supreme Court nominee.