Sonia S. Waisman has a decades long career as a leader in complex insurance coverage litigation, as well as her work in the development of animal law education. As a business litigation attorney, Ms. Waisman has served as national environmental coverage counsel for several large insurance companies and as liaison counsel in multibillion dollar cases. Her practice covers a wide array of litigated and non-litigated matters, particularly in the environmental and toxic tort coverage arenas, as well as in many other aspects of complex insurance coverage advice and litigation matters. She has litigated in state and federal courts throughout the United States at both the trial court and appellate levels, consistently securing favorable outcomes for her clients. 

Having been active for several decades in the academic development of Animal Law, and remaining so today, she co-authored the first Animal Law casebook, Animal Law: Cases and Materials, now entering its seventh edition, anticipated to be available for the Spring 2027 semester, and she is a co-author of Animal Law in a Nutshell, now in its third edition. Her scholarship extends to additional books and various journal articles on the subject. She has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, created the first Animal Law course at California Western School of Law in San Diego, and has been a Visiting Professor at Vermont Law School. A sought-after speaker, she has presented and served on panels at Animal Law conferences nationwide, and long served as a judge, drafter, and grader for the National Animal Law Appellate Moot Court Competition. Her leadership in the field also includes prior service on the Board of Directors of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. 

Ms. Waisman also brings judicial insight to her practice, having served as a judge pro tem for the San Diego County Superior Court, Small Claims Division, and as a judicial extern for the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District.