Courtney Spivey Urschel

Courtney Spivey Urschel (LinkedIn) is the Executive Director of Evidence Linked. She previously served as the Deputy Chief overseeing the human rights portfolio at the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) from 2019-2025.

In that position, Urschel oversaw investigations and prosecutions arising out of allegations of war crimes, torture, genocide, rape, enlisting child soldiers and extra-judicial killings, resulting in over 15 prosecutions, including the first two war crimes indictments ever brought under the U.S. War Crimes Statute and four torture prosecutions. Urschel represented the USDOJ at Eurojust’s Genocide Network and the Ukraine Joint Investigative Team. She received the Attorney General Award for Distinguished Service in 2025 and the Assistant Attorney General Award for Distinguished Service in 2024, both in recognition of her work advancing human rights accountability.

For over 10 years, Urschel served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, DC, conducting federal investigations and prosecutions of offenses including war crimes, terrorism, espionage, murder, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses and trying over 45 cases to verdict.

Urschel clerked for then-Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the District Court for the District of Columbia and served as a litigation associate for Simpton Thacher & Bartlett LLP. She holds a JD from Vanderbilt University Law School.