What is Animal Law?

Animal law has become a distinct legal discipline, with its own body of case law and a growing number of practitioners and academics. The practice of animal law deals primarily with resolving legal issues and situations in which the nature of animals–including their legal status, behavior or biology–is an important factor. Although animals themselves typically do not have standing (meaning the right to sue and be sued on their own behalf) people who care about animals, or who own them or have suffered harm by them often do. As a general rule, if a person or a group of people can show that they have a real and tangible stake in a legal claim involving animals, they can have their grievances heard in a court of law.

I represent people and organizations that have claims involving all types of animals including pets and domestic animals, livestock (including horses), wild animals, animals used in scientific research and those used in sports and entertainment. Areas of law include contracts, property law, tort law, constitutional law, estate law and planning, government regulation (at international, federal, state and municipal levels), corporate compliance and criminal law.

Here are some examples of issues I have handled: