University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law has established the Mary Byron Center to expand legal education on intimate partner violence and prepare future lawyers to better prevent, recognize and respond to abuse.
The center will combine specialized coursework, interdisciplinary collaboration, research and hands-on advocacy opportunities to give students practical experience working with survivors while advancing prevention efforts.
The center will be led by an endowed chair who will teach law and policy courses on intimate partner violence, review and integrate IPV education into the law school curriculum and foster transdisciplinary collaboration across University of Louisville. The position will help ensure law students receive structured, up-to-date training on IPV law, policy and prevention.
Building on the Robert and Sue Ellen Ackerson Law Clinic, the center will offer hands-on, interdisciplinary experiences for students from various fields — including law, social work, medicine, dentistry, education and business — working directly with intimate partner violence survivors. This experiential component will help students apply their legal knowledge in real-world settings.
The center will train professionals to recognize, respond to and prevent intimate partner violence, reducing the risk of “institutional betrayal” when professionals fail to take abuse seriously.
Students will have opportunities to engage in research, data analysis and policy development related to intimate partner violence, contributing to national and local prevention strategies.
The center will host an annual national conference bringing together legal professionals, scholars and advocates from around the world, giving law students a platform to present work, network and learn from experts.
By embedding intimate partner violence education into both legal and non-legal curricula, the center will prepare graduates to recognize abuse, intervene effectively and help break the cycle of violence in their future careers.
The center builds on the work of the nationally renowned nonprofit Mary Byron Project, whose mission since 2000 has been to foster innovations and programs to prevent intimate partner violence. The organization was inspired by Mary Byron, a 21-year-old Louisville resident who was murdered in 1993 by her estranged ex-boyfriend after he was unknowingly released from jail.
