Agenda
To download a PDF copy of the agenda, click here.
To access the Animal Law Conference Mobile App, click here.
6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Welcome Reception
The conference kicked off with an evening reception and keynote presentation at Pure Space in Portland’s Pearl District.
Guests enjoyed appetizers and drinks while networking with fellow conference attendees.
1315 NW Overton St, Portland, OR 97209
7:15 – 7:30 p.m.
Welcomes & Introductions
Pamela Frasch, Associate Dean, Animal Law Program; Founder, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
Stephen Wells, Executive Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund
7:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Keynote Presentation by Congressman Earl Blumenauer
Subject to Congressional Calendar
Congressman Earl Blumenauer, 3rd District of Oregon
Introduction by: Dean Jennifer Johnson, Lewis & Clark Law School
During his impressive career in public service, Congressman Earl Blumenauer has inspired and supported his constituents and citizens across the country with his tireless advocacy of important issues such as public transportation, land use planning, protection of the environment, and school funding. Animal welfare has also been a priority for the Congressman throughout his career, having sponsored or co-sponsored over a dozen bills that have improved the lives of animals and furthering this work as co-chair of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus. This keynote presentation will highlight Congressman Blumenauer’s ongoing legislative work, including the priority bills of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, as well as other key animal welfare initiatives on Capitol Hill. The Congressman will also share his perspective about recent administrative decisions and actions as well as other important and timely issues.
All panel sessions on Saturday took place at Pure Space in Portland’s Pearl District.
1315 NW Overton St, Portland, OR 97209
To download a PDF copy of the agenda, click here.
To access the Animal Law Conference Mobile App, click here.
9:00 – 9:15 a.m.
Introduction to the Legal Status of Animals
Joyce Tischler, Founder, Animal Legal Defense Fund; Professor of Practice, Animal Law, Lewis & Clark Law School
Introduction by: Pamela Hart, Executive Director, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
The Animal Law Movement is deeply involved in wide-ranging work that will transform the legal status of animals. This year’s conference will explore how this is playing out in civil, criminal and international law, as well as academia, politics and scientific study.
9:15 – 10:30 a.m.
Understanding Our Clients: Philosophy, Ethology and the Law
Angela Fernandez, Associate Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Becca Franks, Visiting Assistant Professor, New York University
Ramona Ilea, PhD, Philosophy Department Chair and Professor, Pacific University Oregon
Moderator: Priscilla Rader, Education Coordinator, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Moral consideration for animals is still hotly debated despite studies continuing to show that animals are sentient beings who feel pain and seek pleasure. This panel will discuss the ethical theories behind animal protection, how these theories have been bolstered by recent advancements in our understanding of animals, and the ways in which the law has both paved the way and has been led by society’s shifting paradigm on how we treat and view animals.
10:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Break
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
More than Property: Advancing Animal Status within the Criminal Justice System
Lora Dunn, Criminal Justice Program Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Jake Kamins, State of Oregon Animal Cruelty Deputy District Attorney, Benton County District Attorney’s Office
Melinda Merck, DVM, Owner, Veterinary Forensics Consulting, LLC
Moderator: Kathleen Wood, Staff Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
There is sometimes a misconception that our ability to protect animals within the criminal justice system is too limited and inadequate to effect real change. But recent developments in criminal law—recognition of animals as victims and sentient beings, burgeoning courtroom animal advocate programs, and cases focused on animals’ emotional suffering—make this an exciting time to be a practitioner in criminal animal law. This panel will explore the numerous ways that animals are considered “more than property” in the criminal justice system and how professionals in the field, from prosecutors to veterinarians, can further this trend and have a real impact on animal victims.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch
1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Transforming Animals’ Status through Civil Litigation
Matthew Liebman, Litigation Program Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Kevin Schneider, Executive Director, Nonhuman Rights Project
Delcianna Winders, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Animal Law Litigation Clinic Director, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
Moderator: Amanda Howell, Staff Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
This panel will discuss the challenges and promises of using civil litigation to transform animals’ legal status. Panelists will discuss high profile animal rights cases, including the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s attempt to establish animals’ right to sue their abusers for damages and the Nonhuman Rights Project’s efforts to win writs of habeas corpus for chimps and elephants. The panel will also explore how civil litigation efforts that may formally fall short of securing fundamental changes to animals’ legal status can nevertheless yield critically important changes to their de facto status and play a role in paving the way toward more fundamental rights in the future.
2:15 – 2:30 p.m.
Break
2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
All the World’s a Stage: Raising the Curtain on International Animal Advancements
Rajesh Reddy, Animal Law LL.M. Program Director, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
Amy P. Wilson, Director and Co-Founder, Animal Law Reform South Africa; Aquatic Animal Law Fellow, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
Moderator: Pamela Hart, Executive Director, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
Slowly but surely, our legal theater is seeing animals being transformed from mere props and property to players on the global stage. Join these experts as they map this international evolution in animal status and shine a spotlight on the rights, protections, and considerations that are helping to give it shape.
3:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Break
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.
Sound Animal Representation: Navigating Legal Ethics and Compassion Fatigue as an Advocate for Animals
Russ Mead, Shared Earth Foundation Visiting Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School
Michelle Kirton, Associate Director of Counseling and Training Director, Lewis & Clark Law School
David Rosengard, Staff Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Doing the work of advocating for animals within the legal system can be challenging. Professional ethics hypotheticals are rarely crafted with animal law in mind; nor are legal self-care models explicitly built to account for constant exposure to the visceral injustice faced by animals. In this session, we walk through the basics of compassion fatigue and common ethical quandaries—laying out ways to address each in turn.
5:15 – 6:45 p.m.
Break
6:45 – 9:00 p.m.
Banquet Dinner, Awards and Keynote Presentation
The banquet dinner and evening program took place at Pure Space in Portland’s Pearl District.
1315 NW Overton St, Portland, OR 97209
6:45 – 7:30 p.m.
Banquet Dinner
7:30 – 7:45 p.m.
Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Pro Bono Achievement Awards
Tom Linney, Pro Bono Program Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund
7:45 – 8:45 p.m.
Keynote Presentation
Inroads and Crossroads: Making Sense of Recent Pro-Animal Developments North of the Border
Maneesha Deckha, Professor; Lansdowne Chair in Law, University of Victoria Faculty of Law
Introduction by: Pamela Frasch, Associate Dean, Animal Law Program; Founder, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
This keynote presentation will discuss recent favorable developments in Canada on issues relating to animal law – everything from a new cetacean anti-captivity law, to a new national plant-promoting food guide. The talk will explain the revolutionary nature of these developments in Canada, what they mean for animals and Canadian society, as well as the larger cultural change that still needs to occur to keep the momentum growing for animal law reform. These examples from Canada will be highlighted as both lessons learned and cautionary tales for those working to further animals’ legal status on this side of the border.
All concurrent panel sessions on Sunday took place in Pure Space and Flex Space at the Pure Space building in Portland’s Pearl District.
1315 NW Overton St, Portland, OR 97209
To download a PDF copy of the agenda, click here.
To access the Animal Law Conference Mobile App, click here.
9:00 – 10:15 a.m. Flex Space
Animal Law Clinicians: Training the Next Generation
Kathy Hessler, Clinical Professor of Law and Animal Law Clinic Director, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
Kim Connolly, Director of Clinical Legal Education; Director of the Advocacy Institute; Vice Dean for Advocacy and Experiential Education; Professor, University of Buffalo School of Law
Moderator: Megan Senatori, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
When it comes to learning, nothing beats hands-on experience. Law school clinics create space for law students to dive deeply into a subject while developing essential lawyering skills, unconstrained by the pressures inherent to other settings. This panel will address the development of animal law clinics, the many experiential learning opportunities presented by clinics and related courses, the role of community partners and pro bono attorneys in clinics, and examples of the unique and creative work being done in animal law clinics to simultaneously develop the field of animal law while using service-learning to prepare students to be effective legal advocates.
9:00 – 10:15 a.m. Pure Space
Electing Representatives who Represent Animals
Danielle Moser, Wildlife Program Coordinator, Oregon Wild
Brian Posewitz, Director, Humane Voters Oregon
Diana Urban, Retired Connecticut State Representative and Chair of the Committee on Children; Founder and President, Protecting Kids and Pets Partnership
Moderator: Jennifer Hauge, Legislative Affairs Manager, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Animals can’t vote, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a voice in the political process. Making laws to improve the lives of animals, however, doesn’t just start by introducing a bill. The real work begins by helping animal-friendly candidates get elected and then collaborating with them on issues over time until they can become a true legislative champion. Learn how you can elevate animal-friendly lawmakers to positions of power.
10:15 – 10:35 a.m.
Break
10:35 – 11:50 a.m. Flex Space
Animals, Robots and Persons yet Unknown
Dr. Kate Darling, Research Specialist, MIT Media Lab
Dr. Paresh Kathrani, Director of Education and Training, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Moderator: Ryan Calo, Lane Powell & D. Wayne Gittinger Endowed Professorship, University of Washington School of Law; Faculty Co-Director, Tech Policy Lab, University of Washington
As we learn more about the capacities of nonhuman animals, technology too continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Machines that look like humans and animals have captured the public imagination. Don’t miss out on this discussion on interesting issues at the intersection of animal law and technology.
10:35 – 11:50 a.m. Pure Space
Creative Approaches to Fighting Climate Change
Randall Abate, Rechnitz Family/Urban Coast Institute Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Law and Policy; Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology, Monmouth University
Jessica Blome, Senior Associate, Greenfire Law, PC
Daniel Waltz, Staff Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Moderator: Christopher Berry, Senior Staff Attorney, Animal Legal Defense Fund
Climate change is the most salient example of the anthropocene, our current geological age which is marked by the domination of humans over the nonhuman world. That domination must have implications for animals’ status as property, given that the assumption that enabled the anthropocene is that animals and their habitat, i.e. nature, is a human resource to be used. This panel will explore that core question about animal status, using various legal approaches in response.
11:50 a.m. Flex Space
Closing Remarks
Pamela Frasch, Associate Dean, Animal Law Program; Founder, Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School
11:50 a.m. Pure Space
Closing Remarks
Liberty Mulkani, Project Management Program Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund