 Irmgard Griss graduated in 1965 from the trade academy in Graz, and obtained in 1970 the title of "dr. juris" at the University of Graz.From 1971 to 1975 she was research assistant at the university, while she completed a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School.Griss was in 1978 lawyer in Vienna and from 1979 to 1980 a judge at the county court for commercial matters in Vienna, and from 1981 to 1987 a judge at the trade court in Vienna.