Courtney fights to regain people’s rights and maintain their dignity after arrest. She is an attorney for individuals that have been arrested or criminally charged in Illinois, some recently and some many years ago. Courtney represents people that have closed cases creating impediments or causing hardship, people with new pending charges, and those that are currently in prison. She has been advocating for people impacted by the criminal legal system since 2011. With her focus on this work she brings a passion for people and community.
Before co-founding Rights and Restoration Law Group LLC, Courtney was the Director of Employment Training at Growing Home in Englewood. There she led a multidisciplinary team in providing holistic support to individuals facing systemic barriers to employment. In addition to direct client work, Courtney used her legal training to persuade employers to expand meaningful career opportunities for people with convictions – including those with long records and violent felonies. Prior to Growing Home, Courtney was Cabrini Green Legal Aid’s Lead Attorney of Collaborative Partnerships where she successfully represented hundreds of individuals in petitions for Sealing and Expungement, Executive Clemency, Certificates of Rehabilitation, Health Care Worker Waivers, and Administrative Licensing. At Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Courtney facilitated numerous CLE courses, annually training upwards of 200 pro bono attorneys from some of Chicago’s largest law firms. Currently, other attorneys frequently seek her assistance in identifying collateral consequences and records relief options for their clients facing new criminal charges. Across professional roles, Courtney has built collaborative partnerships, developed innovative models of service delivery, and supported policy work led by directly impacted people.
Courtney currently volunteers with Chicago Legal Clinic’s Blank Slate Records Program, and has previously volunteered with the Chicago Community Bond Fund, John Howard Association C-Number Project, Safer Foundation, Cabrini Green Legal Aid, CARPLS, and Illinois Legal Aid Online. Through her work she has had such victories as freeing a man incarcerated for over 40 years, winning sealing orders for multiple clients with violent convictions, and supporting the freedom of individuals unable to pay bail.
In addition, Courtney is an adjunct professor at DePaul University College of Law where she co-teaches the Croak Community Criminal Justice Legal Clinic. In this role, she continues her work facilitating partnerships between community-based organizations and (future) lawyers. As a professor, she hopes to contribute to students’ growth as advocates by teaching substantive law through the lens of supporting community empowerment.
Courtney graduated from DePaul University College of Law cum laude, with a certificate in public interest law, and earned her bachelor’s degree cum laude from Eastern Michigan University. While she is originally from the metro-Detroit and spent a number of years in Santa Fe, she now lives on Chicago’s South Side and has called the city home since 2010.
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