Kimberly Backman is a volunteer researcher for the International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics (ICARE), an organization focused on advancing animal rights through education, research, and advocacy. Kim is also an ambassador for the Center for Animal Law Studies Global Ambassador Program for the 2024/2025 term. As an ambassador, she launched Animal Law Alliance, where she serves as Executive Director. Animal Law Alliance is a non-profit that aims to transform animals’ lives by offering pro bono legal services to animal welfare groups.
After a successful career in family law litigation, Kimberly started providing pro bono legal services to animal welfare non-profits and organizations. Kimberly also founded Animal Rights and Advocacy of Illinois, a non-profit dedicated to protecting animals, their legal rights, and their environment. In 2019, she became the 6th Congressional District Leader for the Humane Society of the United States, assisting in the advancement of both federal and state animal protection legislative agendas and lobbying to support the passage of Illinois humane pet store ordinances and cat declaw bans. A recipient of the Center for Animal Law Studies Animal Law LLM Leadership Award, Kimberly attended the online program at Lewis & Clark Law School, graduating summa cum laude in May 2024.
Kimberly is a member of the American Bar Association Animal Law Committee, the Illinois Bar Association Animal Law Committee, and the DuPage County Animal Law Committee. She served as the DuPage County Animal Law Committee Vice-Chair for 2020/2021, was the Committee Chair in 2019/2020, and has presented several continuing education seminars covering animal law topics. She also authored Helping Pets of Domestic Violence Victims, published in the DuPage County Bar Association Brief. Her recent article, Animal Deaths Caused by Disasters and the Resulting Financial Reimbursements, will be published in a future edition of the ABA Brief.