July 09, 2019

What Lawyers Can Do for Animals

A CALS’ LLM Alumna Makes The Case in Glasgow, Scotland.

Alice Di Concetto, a 2016 alumna of the Animal Law LLM Program at the Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) at Lewis & Clark Law School, was invited and sponsored by CALS and its International Animal Law Program to present at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland on April 27th of this year. As part of a conference panel on “What Lawyers Can Do for Animals,” Alice presented about the many opportunities, events, and activities organized by CALS. As a French national, she was keen to emphasize the international character of CALS’ Animal Law LLM Program, a feature that distinguishes CALS from other law school programs.

In her presentation, Alice highlighted the extent to which her time at CALS played a crucial role in her career. At CALS, she gained a strong knowledge base in animal law and policy, beyond the specialized curricula in Europe where the field remains under-developed. Alice also spoke about the ways in which CALS provided her with a whole array of skills she uses today - skills obtained not only through traditional graduate seminars, but also through work in the CALS’ legal clinic and via excellent services the law school provides to international students, particularly legal writing and analytical skills mentorship. Finally, despite being the world hub for animal law and policy, Alice described CALS as a close-knit community of practitioners, scholars, activists, all working cooperatively towards the same goal: to improve the treatment of animals by using the law.

While outlining possible career paths for newly minted animal law grads, Alice drew on her personal experience to tell students about the need for skilled legal professionals in the animal protection movement. The CALS alumna explained that her Animal Law LLM degree from Lewis & Clark Law School has granted her amazing professional opportunities, allowing her to create change for animals.

After graduating from Lewis & Clark Law School, Alice conducted research at Harvard Law School as a Farm Animal & Policy Fellow. She is now a lobbyist for farm animals in Brussels, Belgium while concurrently teaching at the Sciences Po (Paris) Law School Clinic on animal welfare labeling. Alice’s unique career path has paved the way for her to become one of the foremost experts on the effects of agricultural policies on farm animal welfare in the US and the EU. Alice’s academic work has also focused on the intersection of animal law and cultural rights, with the aim of improving conditions for oppressed minorities in the European animal protection movement.  She is making a difference for animals every day, utilizing the academic foundation and support she received during her time at CALS.

Prior to Alice’s presentation, Libby Anderson, a policy consultant at OneKind, the largest animal protection organization in Scotland, inaugurated the conference panel with a discussion of insufficient regulation in Scottish fox hunting. Professor Mike Radford from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, discussed the burgeoning field of animal welfare law in the U.K. Edie Bowles, a licensed attorney (“solicitor”) in London, rounded out the panel by presenting her work as the co-founder of the animal law firm “Advocates for Animals,” as well as her involvement in the UK Center for Animal Law (A–Law), an organization that educates law students in the field of animal law. This panel was part of the University of Strathclyde’s Center for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) 2019 Festival and organized by both SCELG and the UK Center for Animal Law together with PhD candidate, Iyan Offor.