The 30th annual Animal Law Conference: Building a Brighter Future brought together over 500 attendees, both in person and virtually, for a landmark weekend of programming, reflection, and celebration. Held in Portland, Oregon—the city where the conference began—the event honored three decades of progress in the animal law movement while focusing on the road ahead.
Dates & Location
November 4–6, 2022
Portland Hilton Downtown
Portland, Oregon
Hybrid format (in-person + virtual)
Attendance
Total attendees: 541
(in-person and virtual)
Legal Professionals: 173
Law Students: 203
Nonprofit/Public Interest: 78
Animal Activists: 87
Our Sponsors
Highlights & Reflections
The weekend began Friday evening with a welcome reception in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Portland Downtown. Attendees connected over plant-based appetizers and drinks, and heard opening remarks from leaders at the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Center for Animal Law Studies, setting the stage for a meaningful and commemorative gathering.
Saturday’s sessions opened with a video welcome from Dr. Jane Goodall, followed by panels addressing timely and complex topics, including the role of science in legal advocacy, the impact of armed conflict on animals, and strategies for advancing protections for farmed animals. Other sessions explored foundational issues in animal law, such as legal personhood, standing, and professional ethics.
The day concluded with the banquet dinner, awards ceremony, and keynote presentation by Miyoko Schinner, Founder and CEO of Miyoko’s Creamery. The evening also featured the Animal Legal Defense Fund Pro Bono Achievement Awards, and for the first time, the Animal Law Conference Champion for Animals Award, presented to Sarah Luick in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field.
Sunday’s program offered a mix of plenary and concurrent sessions focused on the future of animal law. Topics included youth advocacy and education, the political landscape for animal protection, alternatives to animal use in research, the role of sanctuaries, and innovations in criminal justice approaches to animal cruelty.
The 30th annual Animal Law Conference: Building a Brighter Future was both a celebration of progress and a call to action. It continued the conference’s tradition of providing substantive legal education, critical dialogue, and professional community for those working to advance animal protection through the law.
Friday
Welcome Reception
The conference will kick off with an evening reception in the Grand Ballroom, at the Hilton Portland Downtown. We invite you to enjoy appetizers and drinks while networking with fellow conference attendees. The reception will not be live streamed.
Welcome remarks by:
A special thanks to our Platinum Sponsor, Carol House Furniture, for sponsoring the Welcome Reception.
Saturday
Registration Opens and Coffee Served
Special Welcome Video
Using Science for Progressive Legal Outcomes for Animals
Scientists and animal lawyers are important allies, and their creative partnerships prove that together they are a strong front for animal protection progress. This kick-off plenary session will explore the joint work of animal behavior experts and animal lawyers. The panelists will share details about exciting opportunities to bring science to animal law litigation and legislation, as well as to scholars and theorists.
Break
Animals Caught in Human Conflicts
Everything humans do impacts the natural world and mostly those impacts have a negative effect on the environment and animals. This panel will shed light on the plight of animals caught in violent human conflicts and how animals are trapped by war, are killed in the violence or when their habitat is destroyed, and are used to fund war and terrorism.
Lunch
Challenges and Opportunities Lawyers Face Today in Advocating for Farmed Animals
Animal advocates are at a pivotal moment to change the future for farmed animals. The plight of countless terrestrial and aquatic animals who are suffering in animal agriculture is a daunting challenge that must be addressed. This panel will focus on the role of legal professionals in farmed animal protection and discuss possible paths forward to bring about a better world for farmed animals in the next 30 years.
Deconstructing Personhood and Standing
What the legal status of animals is, or what it should be, is a key issue for the animal law movement. Recently these questions — particularly as they relate to legal personhood — have begun receiving greater attention in broader legal spaces and popular culture. Join our panelists as they explore the contested territory opened up by interrogating the legal status of animals. Along the way we will ask if there is a consensus regarding what personhood actually means, whether it has anything to do with property status, why status cases reach divergent outcomes, and if animals stand to gain from advocates tackling the personhood question.
Break
Animals, Ethics, and the Attorney
Animal law often poses unique questions, challenges, and fact patterns for attorneys to work through, but how do the rules of professional responsibility apply? Join Russ Mead, leader in animal law and ethics, for an interactive, entertaining, and informative look at what to do – and not to do – when advocating on behalf of animals in the legal system. Russ will lead attendees through a series of hypothetical scenarios, which will examine ways to handle situations effectively while adhering to the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility. Attendees will receive one continuing legal education (CLE) ethics credit for this session.
Break
Banquet Dinner, Awards Ceremony, and Keynote Presentation
Animal Legal Defense Fund Advancement in Animal Law Pro Bono Achievement Awards
Champion for Animals Awards presented to Sarah Luick
Keynote Presentation
A special thanks to our Platinum Sponsor, The Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy, for sponsoring the Banquet Dinner
Sunday
Registration Opens and Coffee Served
The Future of Animal Law Education & Youth Advocacy
The fields of animal law education and youth advocacy have exploded in the past thirty years. What began as less than a handful of animal law courses in 1992, has grown to more than 160 animal law courses at American Bar Association accredited law schools today. While animal law education is still nascent by comparison to other fields, it is, at last, firmly on the map. Where do we go from here? This panel will discuss innovative approaches to advancing the future of animal law education on a global scale, across a variety of disciplines, through youth advocacy movements, and by integrating animal law education throughout the law school curriculum.
Break
The Importance of Considering Animals in Political Campaigns
As recognition grows that animals are sentient and have their own interests, society is beginning to demand that animal welfare is considered not just in legislation but also in political campaigns. Many people are asking how their representatives in government think about animals and how they plan to protect them. The speakers on this panel will discuss how animals and animal issues play into legislative and political campaigns, looking at it from the point of view of an elected legislator, an elected prosecutor, and a lobbyist.
Crimes Against Animals: Innovative Outcomes for Animals and People
The animal law movement has for the most part been successful in showing people animal cruelty is a problem—the new challenge is to figure out the best path forward. A dynamic and evolving area of focus is creating targeted criminal justice outcomes to better help animal victims, prevent future crimes against animals, and build healthier and more resilient communities. This panel will look to the future with innovative work that is currently being done, including restorative justice, transformative justice, and mental health evaluations, through the lens of interspecies justice and One Health. A focus on outcomes leads back to prevention and resilience, bringing us full circle in effectuating positive change for animals in the criminal justice space.
Break with Voodoo Doughnuts
A special thanks to our Silver Sponsor, The Fred and Jean Allegretti Foundation, for sponsoring this Break.
The Role and Future of Animal Sanctuary
Animal sanctuaries not only provide safety, enriching space, and care for animals, they also serve an important role in educating the public about the cruelty and neglect that the animals may have faced before coming to sanctuary. Panelists will provide a forward-looking vision for animal sanctuary, including the availability of sanctuary space for animals assisted through litigation, the important role of sanctuary for farmed animals, and re-imagining sanctuary for human and animal victims of domestic abuse and intimate partner violence.
Challenges and Opportunities in Transitioning Away from Using Animals in Research
Within the arenas of law and science, there is much work that can be done to make advancements for the benefit of both animals and humans. Panelists will provide an overview of key aspects of the Animal Welfare Act and the Health Research Extension Act, the methods and outcomes of animal-based and animal-reduced science, protections for advocates seeking to acquire and disseminate information about research on animals, and what next steps might look like in the decades to come.
Rachael Bale
Assemblyman Dan Benson
Chris Berry
Karen Bradshaw
Pamela Byce
Jessica Chapman
Ariel Flint
Pamela Frasch
Leah Garcés
Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE
Brian Hackett
Kathy Hessler
Piper Hoffman
Claire Howe
Hon. Emma Hurst MLC
Gwen Jakubisin
Gladys Kamasanyu
Jake Kamins
Kim Kelly
Dr. Rebecca Ledger
Tom Linney
Paul Locke
Erica Lyman
Solomon Malick
Dr. Lori Marino
Russ Mead
Lenore Montanaro
Macarena Montes Franceschini
Priscilla Rader Culp
Rajesh Reddy
Christopher Rhone
David Rosengard
Miyoko Schinner
Megan Senatori
Cristina Stella
Philip Tedeschi
Taylor Tench
Joyce Tischler
Stephen Wells
The materials provided below were submitted by the conference presenters to accompany their presentations. The materials, although not necessarily written by the individual presenters, are relevant to their panel topics and will be applicable to attorneys seeking continuing legal education (CLE) credits for attending the conference. We will not have binders or CD/DVDs of materials available for purchase, but attendees will be able to access resources via this website or our virtual event platform.
Using Science for Progressive Legal Outcomes for Animals
Challenges and Opportunities Lawyers Face Today in Advocating for Farmed Animals
- Hoffman – Martin Farms Appellate Opinion
- Maine Aquaculture Petition
- Appellate Court Orders Prosecution Following Animal Protection Group’s Investigation of Large Pennsylvania Dairy
- Nickels v. Burnett
- National Pork Producers Council v. Ross
- National Pork Producers Council v. Karen Ross, in Her Official Capacity as Secretary of the California Department of Food & Agriculture
- Garcés Presentation
- Tischler Presentation
- Hoffman Presentation
Deconstructing Personhood and Standing
Animals, Ethics, and the Attorney
Keynote Presentation
The Future of Animal Law Education & Youth Advocacy
The Importance of Considering Animals in Political Campaigns
Crimes Against Animals: Innovative Outcomes for Animals and People
The Role and Future of Animal Sanctuary
- ALDF Petition for Rulemaking AWA Confiscation
- ALDF v. Vilsack, Revoke and Run Complaint
- ALDF v. Vilsack, Sawmiller AWA License Renewal
- Captive Wildlife at a Crossroads – Sanctuaries, Accreditation, and Humane Washing
- Krishnamoorthi AWA Relocation Letter
- Kuehl v. Sellner Nuisance Order
- The Value of Sanctuaries, and How to Maximize Their Impact
- USDA Response to ALDF Petition for Rulemaking
- Sheltering Animals of Abuse Victims
- More Than A Link: The Washington Supreme Court Unanimously Holds That Animal Cruelty Can Also Constitute Domestic Violence
- Working At The Roots: How Animal Advocates Can Become Critical Allies Against Domestic Violence and Animal Cruelty
- Jakubisin Presentation
- Stella/Kladis Presentation
- Senatori Presentation
Challenges and Opportunities in Transitioning Away from Using Animals in Research
The conference has been approved for 13 continuing legal education (CLE) credits, including 1 ethics credit, by the Oregon State Bar Association. Most states accept credits from other mandatory CLE states such as Oregon, but please check with your local bar association to confirm.
Anyone seeking credit in other states should submit approval paperwork to their local bar association CLE boards or retain the certificate of attendance which will be provided to attorneys who register for the conference, if their state has a reciprocal agreement with Oregon.
Please direct any questions relating to CLE credits to Anne Marie Vastano.
Information via the American Bar Association (ABA) regarding CLEs.
Watch all sessions here
Playlist
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