Meet Courtney Anderson

A professional photograph of Courtney Anderson, a criminal defense attorney, family law lawyer, and personal injury lawyer in Central Illinois who is also a co-founder of 217 Law LLC.

Courtney’s legal career began in high school when she worked part-time at a local law firm.

She then attended and graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale where she majored in pre-law to prepare herself for law school. During her time in Carbondale, Courtney had the opportunity to intern at the Jackson County Public Defender’s Office.

Afterwards, Courtney moved to Chicago where she attended and graduated from the John Marshall Law School (now called University of Illinois Chicago School of Law). While in law school, Courtney volunteered at the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, where she helped victims of domestic violence obtain Emergency Orders of Protection and at CASA of Cook County, where she advocated on behalf of abused and neglected children. She also interned at a family law firm for a semester.

In the summer before Courtney’s last year of law school, she started working at a personal injury firm, where she remained for 5 years after graduating from law school. At that firm, Courtney handled hundreds of personal injury claims as well as handled personal injury litigation for a variety of clients. Courtney had many successful outcomes, obtaining total compensation in excess of 12 million dollars for her clients.

In 2020, Courtney relocated to her hometown of Decatur, Illinois. She decided to expand her practice to not only injury clients, but also to divorce and family law as well as criminal defense. In addition to private practice, Courtney is a contract public defender in Macon County. She very much enjoys spending her time in the courtroom, advocating on behalf of her clients.

Courtney handles cases throughout central Illinois including Macon County, Logan County, Moultrie County, Christian County, Shelby County, DeWitt County, and Piatt County. She is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and serves on the executive committee for the Decatur Bar Association.