Julie A. Dahlstrom is associate dean of experiential education, clinical professor of law, and director of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking program at Boston University’s School of Law. She is an educator deeply committed to building the next generation of lawyers and leaders through experiential education—which she views as a powerful force in preparing law students to develop innovative responses to pressing legal issues. She is also a recognized expert in human trafficking, immigrants’ rights, and gender-based violence.

Professor Dahlstrom has devoted her career to advancing social justice, transforming the educational and legal landscapes, and ensuring that law students have the practical training to confront bias, racism, and oppression. She supervised students in drafting legislation in Massachusetts to benefit survivors of violent crime. She guided students in collaborating with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office to create a web-based app to assist investigators in recognizing signs of potential human trafficking.

“Professor Dahlstrom pushes her students not only to become zealous advocates for their clients but also to push the law itself in important, groundbreaking directions,” writes Angela Onwuachi-Willig, BU School of Law Dean and Ryan Roth Gallo Professor of Law.

Before joining BU, Professor Dahlstrom represented survivors of labor and sex trafficking and managed a range of humanitarian immigration cases. She joined the School of Law as a lecturer in 2012, founding the BU Law Human Trafficking Clinic.

For many students, Professor Dahlstrom is a role model. “She leads by example,” writes one student. Another remarks, “Her commitment to, and passion for, public interest work showed me what it really means to help people as a lawyer.”

She earned her BA from Boston College in 2003 and her JD from Boston College Law School in 2008. She has won the Boston University Law School Public Interest Project Faculty Award and the Dean’s Teaching Award as well as the national Outstanding Advocate for Clinical Teachers Award and the Massachusetts Bar Foundation Access to Justice Law School Clinician Award, along with many other professional honors.

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