Legal Education
Working with law students and law professionals to advance the field of animal law
The Animal Legal Defense Fund works closely with law students and law professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law. Moving toward the day when animal law is part of the curriculum at each and every law school, the Animal Law Program collaborates with students, faculty, and school administrations to facilitate the development of animal law courses and assists students in forming Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapters.
Visit our student chapters page, or signup to join as a law student member today!
In 2008, the Animal Legal Defense Fund launched the Center for Animal Law Studies, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the Animal Legal Defense Fund and Lewis & Clark Law School. As an academic and practical forum for the burgeoning field of animal law, the Center for Animal Law Studies provides essential programs and services for law students under the guidance of experienced animal law professors and attorneys.
What is “Animal Law”?
Animal law is a combination of statutory and case law in which the nature—legal, social, or biological—of nonhuman animals is an important factor. It encompasses companion animals, wildlife, and animals used in entertainment, research, and raised for food. It permeates and affects most traditional areas of the law—including tort, contract, criminal, trust/estates, family, environmental, administrative, and constitutional law.
Currently, animal law is taught at some of the most reputable and respected law schools in the country—including highly ranked schools such as Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Northwestern, University of Michigan and Duke.
Questions? Contact the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Animal Law Program at alp@aldf.org.
Animal Law Academy’s Webinar Series
The Animal Law Academy webinars are an opportunity to hone your skills and gain both practical and substantive knowledge about important issues currently facing animals in the legal system.
Animal Law Program Team
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Stacey Gordon Sterling
Animal Law Program Director -
Nicole Pallotta
Senior Policy Program Manager -
Kelly Levenda
Senior Student Programs Attorney -
Priscilla Rader Culp
Education Program Manager
Related News
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Though Ruled Unconstitutional, Industry Continues Pushing Ag-Gag Laws: Updates in North Carolina, Kansas, Iowa, and Ontario
In the first half of 2020, there were multiple developments in the realm of Ag-Gag laws — so named because they criminalize whistleblowing and undercover investigations in agricultural facilities, thus “gagging” activists and others who expose animal abuse in factory farms and slaughterhouses.September 15, 2020 Animal Law Update -
New Kentucky Law Allows Veterinarians to Report Animal Cruelty
Kentucky has amended its law prohibiting veterinarians from reporting suspected animal cruelty. Advocates worked for years to change this law, which had good intentions regarding personal privacy but unintended consequences for animal victims of abuse.July 9, 2020 Animal Law Update -
China Reclassifies Dogs from “Livestock” to “Companion Animals”
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and mounting criticism of the dog meat trade from Chinese citizens, the national government of China has issued draft guidelines to reclassify dogs from “livestock” to “companion animals.”May 20, 2020 Animal Law Update
