Julie A. Dahlstrom

Biography

Julie Dahlstrom assumed her role of Associate Dean of Clinical & Experiential Education on July 1, 2023, after over ten years teaching and supervising student attorneys in the experiential program at BU. Dahlstrom began her clinical teaching career as the founder and director of the Human Trafficking Clinic, which was named one of the most innovative law clinics by preLaw magazine in 2014. In 2017, she became the Director of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program, where students represent indigent clients and engage with policy-related projects to address systemic injustice. At BU Law, Dahlstrom has been deeply committed to building community and resources for public interest students. She chaired the Public Service Committee, spearheaded efforts to develop the public interest concentration, and oversaw the creation of the public interest retreat.

As Associate Dean of Experiential Education, Dahlstrom understands the incredible value of experiential education in building the next generation of lawyers and leaders. She views experiential programs as a powerful force in developing innovative responses to the most pressing legal issues of our time, including racial justice, climate change, immigrants’ rights, civil rights issues, and other issues. Experiential offerings—from clinics to practicums to externships—offer an important bridge between the community and the legal profession, allowing grass roots efforts to inform legal change and shape the next wave of law students and leaders within the legal profession. Dahlstrom’s primary priorities are to ensure that law students have the training to confront bias, racism, and oppression within the legal system and legal profession. She is committed to strengthening intersectional and interdisciplinary responses to systemic bias by encouraging partnerships among experiential programs and the broader University.

Dahlstrom writes and speaks as an expert on issues related to gender-based violence, human trafficking, public interest law, and immigrants’ rights. She has been a leader on issues of victims’ rights nationally and locally. In 2022, she was awarded the Access to Justice Award in by the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, and in 2015, she received the Case Award from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for her legal representation of a survivor of labor trafficking. She has served on the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Rights Task Force, was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to the Massachusetts Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force, and now is a member of the Commonwealth Anti-Trafficking Task Force. She has used her voice to advocate for critical legislative efforts, testifying in support of criminal legal reform and critical legislation to improve the rights of immigrants in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She co-counseled first-of-its kind litigation arguing that the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office cannot arbitrarily deny U visa certification to an immigrant detainee who was violently assaulted.

Dahlstrom speaks nationally on the topic of human trafficking, immigration law, and clinical legal education. She has published law review articles in leading journals, including the California Law Review, Florida Law Review, UC Davis Law Review, and UC Irvine Law Review. She regularly presents at academic conferences and has published opinion pieces in The Hill, Cognoscenti, and The Los Angeles Times. She also has been quoted in articles from VICE News, NBC News, the Boston Globe, Radio Boston, WBUR, and the Washington Post.

Dahlstrom initially joined the BU Law clinical faculty as a clinical fellow in 2012, and she became a Clinical Associate Professor and the Director of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program in 2017. She served previously as a senior staff attorney at Casa Myrna Vazquez, where she represented survivors of labor and sex trafficking, and as managing attorney of the Immigration Legal Assistance Program at Ascentria Care Alliance, where she handled a wide range of humanitarian immigration cases. Dahlstrom founded the U and T Visa Working Group of the Immigration Coalition and is a member of the Human Trafficking Subcommittee of the Delivery of Legal Services Committee. She previously served as the co-chair of the Public Service Subcommittee of the Immigration Committee of the Boston Bar Association and is an advisory committee member of the Civil Legal Aid to Victims of Crime (CLAVC) advisory Committee.