Courtney Petersen is a program associate at IAALS. In this role, she supports IAALS’ work across its programmatic areas, including civil justice reform, family justice reform, the judiciary, and legal education and the profession.
Courtney joined IAALS in 2024 after teaching at the University of Michigan Law School and co-creating the school’s Human Trafficking Lab. In that role, she guided law and graduate students from more than 13 disciplines in problem-solving and innovation, creating multidisciplinary, inter-organizational, and collaborative solutions to socio-legal issues. Courtney is passionate about advocating for multidisciplinary approaches and creative thinking when addressing challenges within our legal system, recognizing that the law alone may sometimes offer incomplete solutions.
Prior to teaching at Michigan Law, Courtney completed a post-JD fellowship conducting human rights-based research on migration in Southern Africa and the Southern Indian Ocean region, notably in Réunion, Mayotte, and South Africa, and working with the Legal Resources Centre-Cape Town.
Courtney received her JD from the University of Michigan Law School, her MSW from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and her BA in Sociology and Religious Studies from Grinnell College.