Courtenay received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Baylor University in 1979. In 1982, she received her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Baylor University School of Law.

Courtenay is a charter member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators, Inc. (“AAM”). She has previously served as Secretary, chaired the Programs and Training Committee, served as a member of the Ethics and Standards Committee, and as a member of the Board of Directors. She is also a member of the ADR Sections of the Dallas Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas and has served as a Council Member for the Dallas Bar ADR Section and the State Bar ADR section. Courtenay has been licensed by the State Bar of Texas, several Federal District Courts in Texas, the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, and is a Life Fellow in the Texas Bar Foundation and Dallas Bar Foundation. Courtenay has been honored multiple times as a “Texas Super Lawyer” as well as one of the “Best Lawyers in America”, “D Magazine Best Lawyers,” and “D Magazine Best Women Lawyers.”

Courtenay began her legal practice in the broad area of insurance defense with a medium-sized firm. Her practice included litigation in a variety of areas, including personal injury, products liability, professional malpractice, and worker's compensation. In 1983, Courtenay joined a large business firm and concentrated her practice in commercial litigation, including representation of financial institutions, real estate developers, contractors and corporations. Her practice expanded into a wide variety of areas including contracts, consumer protection, lender liability, employment law, foreclosure, real estate, construction/surety, partnership and shareholder disputes and bankruptcy litigation and continued in personal injury and products liability.

In 1989, Courtenay began her career as a solo practitioner concentrating in Alternative Dispute Resolution, primarily focused on mediation. Since 1989, Courtenay has mediated approximately 5000 disputes in a wide variety of areas including commercial litigation, contracts, personal injury, worker's compensation, sexual assault, products liability, professional malpractice, insurance, ERISA, employment, construction/surety, partnership dissolutions, securities, governmental entities, trade secrets, covenants not to compete, intellectual property and consumer protection. Courtenay has also represented clients in ADR processes and serves as a consultant for preparing and presenting cases effectively in ADR procedures.

In addition to her mediation practice, Courtenay has been actively involved in teaching trial advocacy, mediation, and negotiation. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at Southern
Methodist University School of Law in the Trial Advocacy Program. She has also served as a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and has taught at the NITA National
Program, Southern Regional, Gulf Coast Regional, Southwestern Regional, Northwest Regional and the Bankruptcy and Negotiation and Mediation Advocacy Programs. She has also taught at the ABA National Institute on Jury Persuasion and the Dallas Bar Association Trial Skills Program. She also served as a faculty member for the New Zealand Law Society's Trial Skills
Program in New Zealand and as a speaker at the First International Congress on the Administration of Conflicts in Buenos Aires, Argentina.