WASHINGTON – The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) announced today a joint project to strengthen and expand the Law Center's animal law curriculum, provide opportunities for students to work in the field, and to foster academic discourse in the emerging field of animal law.
"These new initiatives with the Humane Society of the United States will allow us to increase our offerings in the growing field of animal law and provide our students and graduates with important hands-on training," said Georgetown Law Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff. "HSUS is a national leader in the field of animal protection law, and we are delighted to work with them to build our animal law program."
Beginning in the Fall of 2007, Georgetown Law and The HSUS will launch three new, groundbreaking animal law initiatives at the law school:
- A new animal protection litigation seminar that will teach public interest animal protection litigation practice, and allow students to earn academic credit while working side-by-side with The HSUS' legal staff on animal cruelty cases.
- A new animal law fellowship to allow recent graduates of the Law Center to practice animal law at The HSUS for a year after graduation. The fellowship is the first of its kind at any law school in the country.
- The development of a joint animal law conference, to be held in 2008, to bring together a diverse group of experts from around the country -- including judges, legislators, prosecutors, and other legal professionals -- to engage in dialogue about the development and enforcement of animal law in the United States.
"These initiatives are supported by a $1 million endowment from Bob Barker, and grants from the Glaser Progress Foundation and Hayward Pressman of New York."
"This partnership represents unprecedented alliance between a humane organization and the nation's leading law school for public interest law," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The HSUS and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law. "By working together, Georgetown Law and The HSUS have been able to lever their resources, and do far more for the development of animal law than would have otherwise been possible."
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About The HSUS
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization—backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty—on the web at humanesociety.org.
About Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It has the largest full-time faculty in the nation and is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, Georgetown Law has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body.
