Irene Au-Young is a Wisconsin-based attorney. She began her legal career as a Staff Attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin, focusing primarily on defending the rights of tenants at risk of eviction. After her time at Legal Action, Irene began practicing Hostak, Henzl & Bichler, S.C., in the area of family law. Irene is a graduate of the Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. While in school, Irene worked on a lawsuit filed against the federal government for its failure to protect non-ambulatory pigs. Irene intends to use her law degree to foster a more compassionate and sustainable world in which the legal interests of nonhuman animals, humans, and the environment are all accounted for.
12:00 p.m. : What is Animal Law?
- Define animal law
- Brief history and its trajectory since the concept of animals’ legal rights was established
- Animal law programs
- Examples of coursework
- Animal Law LLM Degree
Traditional areas of law that intersect with animal law and examples
- Human rights law: rights of industrial animal agriculture employees
- Environmental law: environmental pollution caused by factory farming
- Wills and Trusts: the creation of pet trusts
- Protective Order Law: “The Link” between domestic violence and animal cruelty
Topical issues of animal law
- Wolves removed from the ESA
- Plant-based product labeling
- Animal personhood: Happy the Elephant
- Big Cats in Captivity
- Local: Wisconsin Right to Farm Law
Ways lawyers can get involved to advocate for the interests of animals
- Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Pro Bono Program
- Join a state animal law bar section
- Draft an article for an animal law journal
- Volunteer for a local animal shelter or farm sanctuary
12:50 p.m. Program Concludes
- Know the historical underpinnings of animal law and the concept of animal rights
- Understand how traditional areas of law intersect with animal law
- Explore emerging topics in animal law
- Find out how you can advocate for animal rights
- Civil litigators
- General practitioners
- Criminal law attorneys
- Estate planning and probate lawyers
- Attorneys seeking to add animal law to their practice