Julie Wright
Halbert.
A leading national voice for grief literacy. Death doula, end-of-life educator, transformational soul coach. Founder of Rising Phoenix LIFE. Mother of two.
From the courtroom
to a calling.
Julie practiced national education law for the Council of the Great City Schools for almost three decades, serving as Legislative Counsel on cases that reached the Supreme Court of the United States. Her work in that earlier career was covered by The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and The New York Times.
In 2018 her husband Jim was diagnosed with cancer. Three weeks later he was gone. He was 51. They were never told the time would be that short. In the years that followed Julie became a certified death doula, an end-of-life educator, and a transformational soul coach. She founded Rising Phoenix LIFE and began teaching what she had been forced to learn: that the way we meet death shapes the way we live.
She is the author of the forthcoming book Live and Die Awake, a grief-literacy book that re-frames how we meet grief, loss, and death. Woven with guided meditations and journaling reflections, it walks the reader into a healing arc of their own. Releases November 4, 2026.
Julie lives in Sarasota, Florida. She is the mother of two sons, Jacob and William.
Grief is not a problem to be solved.
It is a doorway opening into living, into the light.
Trained, certified, and at the bedside.
Certified Death Doula
Going with Grace End of Life Training (Alua Arthur).
Certified Transformational Soul Coach
Sedona Soul Adventures.
Hospice Volunteer
Empath Tidewell Hospice, Sarasota, Florida.
Legislative Counsel
Council of the Great City Schools, 1994 to 2022. Work covered by The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and The New York Times.
J.D. with honors
University of Miami School of Law. B.A. with honors, University of Maryland. Admitted to the Federal Bar, the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, and the Florida Bar.