Employment Opportunities
Looking for a job, career, internship, clerkship or fellowship in animal law?
The Animal Legal Defense Fund offers a list of our current employment opportunities plus additional opportunities at various law firms and non-profit organizations across the country.
If you are a law firm or non-profit organizations, you can submit your opportunity and we will consider it for publication on aldf.org.
Opportunities at the Animal Legal Defense Fund
Spring 2025 Legal Research Assistant
Yale Law School
The Climate Change & Animal Agriculture Litigation Initiative (CCAALI) is a project within the Law, Environment & Animals Program (LEAP) at Yale Law School. CCAALI, which launched in 2021, focuses on the intersection of climate change and the food system, exploring the potential for litigation in U.S. courts to help address the climate harms of industrial animal agriculture.
We are seeking law school student research assistants to work on multiple discrete projects related to this initiative. Work may include research in support of potential litigation relating to: environmental statutes (both federal and state); environmental justice; tort claims; administrative challenges; and consumer protection theories.
The expected time commitment is 6 to 10 hours per week through May 2025.
RA work will be overseen by Laura Fox and Caroline Zhang, CCAALI Litigation Fellows, as well as LEAP Legal Director Daina Bray. Doug Kysar and Viveca Morris of LEAP also advise on the project. This position is paid at the law school’s RA hourly rate of $17.50. For law students who prefer supervised research credit instead of hourly pay, that option may be available pending approval from the law school.
How to apply:
To apply, please submit your resume or CV and a brief message explaining your interest, relevant experience, and when and how long you are available to contribute to caroline.zhang.cz443@yale.edu. Positions will be filled on a rolling basis.
Background on CCAALI:
Even if emissions from electricity production and transportation ended immediately, global emissions related to food production alone could preclude limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or less above pre-industrial levels, a goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. The vast majority of U.S. agriculture emissions—almost 80%—are related to the production of livestock animals and their feed. The livestock industry’s emissions are particularly concerning because livestock and manure are among the top sources of the climate super-pollutants methane and nitrous oxide, and because of animal agriculture’s significant land-use impacts.
Yet, agribusinesses have received little legal or political scrutiny for their climate pollution, and the industry’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain effectively unregulated in the United States. Given the urgency of the climate crisis and the current lack of political will to address GHG pollution from the livestock industry, climate advocates may turn to litigation as a potential leverage point for holding livestock corporations responsible for their climate harms. CCAALI seeks to understand the nature, likelihood, and potential impacts of such strategies.
The CCAALI team includes LEAP Legal Director Daina Bray, LEAP Faculty Director Doug Kysar, LEAP Executive Director Viveca Morris, Litigation Fellow Laura Fox, Litigation Fellow Caroline Zhang, and LEAP Postgraduate Fellow Laurie Sellars.
Contact:
https://law.yale.edu/animals/initiatives/climate-change-animal-agriculture