YLD Section Spotlight: Animal Law Section of the Florida Bar
What is the Animal Law Section and what does it do?
One of the first things people ask when they hear about the section is “What is animal law?” While there is no perfect definition, the one that we use most frequently is that it consists of all legal matters involving nonhuman animals. Animal law is broad – it is implicated any time the animals that we own, use, protect, or consume intersect with the law. It also encompasses all types of animals: our companion animals (dogs and cats), wildlife, animals used in entertainment, and animals used for food and research. Animal law also intersects with many traditional areas of law where animals are present, such as administrative, criminal, entertainment, property, estate planning, and family law, just to name a few.
The Animal Law Section (ALS) is the newest section of The Florida Bar, having been approved by The Florida Bar Board of Governors for its inaugural year in 2016. ALS grew out of The Florida Bar Animal Law Committee (ALC), which was initially created in 2004. The ALS was created to promote the study and understanding of law, regulations, and court decisions involving animals. The ALS provides a forum for members to exchange ideas and information on this rapidly developing area of law. Through outreach efforts, the ALS is committed to educating other members of The Florida Bar and the public on animal law issues. The ALS has expanded on the legal education seminars and CLEs that the ALC offered. We also publish research and materials in quarterly newsletters, The Florida Bar Journal and on our website through monthly updates.
As interest in Animal Law has grown, legislative activity around animals has grown exponentially. One of the ALS’s many functions is to track legislation related to animals and, more recently, we have started working through The Florida Bar’s legislative process to support various initiatives. The Justice’s Best Friend Act which passed during the 2017 legislative session expanded the use of therapy and assistance animals in the courtroom when children and disabled adults are required to testify. Several section members individually proposed the legislation and spearheaded the effort to get it passed. In future legislative sessions, we plan to take legislative positions on behalf of the section itself.
Who can join the Animal Law Section?
Anyone with an interest in animal law! Attorneys who are members of the Florida Bar can join the section as regular members. It is not a requirement that you practice animal law. In fact, most of our members do not practice animal law and are just interested in the subject. The section also welcomes affiliate members, which include, but are not limited to, non-Bar members such as law professors, paralegals, law students, and other professionals that work with animals. Because this is a developing area of law where lawyers traditionally have not practiced, it is not uncommon for some of our affiliate members to have more knowledge and information about a particular subject than our attorney members
Reasons to join the ALS?
Members join for many reasons, including to learn about animal law and find ways that animal law can be incorporated into their existing law practice. The ALS has started putting on a number of seminars and webinars throughout the year, which are discounted for members. In most cases, the cost of attending a seminar or webinar is discounted to cover the amount of section dues. In other words, if you have an interest in attending one of our CLEs, the price of joining the section is included in your attendance. These discounts also apply to aftermarket seminars. Members also receive updates on interesting developments in animal law. During the legislative session, members receive updates on bills that have been proposed and committee hearings.
Perhaps the best reason to join is that ALS members are interested and passionate about animal law. It is a new area of law that is growing exponentially, so it is exciting to be involved. When the ALC was initially formed, there were a handful of law schools around the country that taught animal law. Now there are more 165 law schools in the U.S. and Canada that regularly offer animal law courses. Major law schools like Harvard and Stanford have animal law curriculum, journals, and moot court competitions. Almost all the law schools in Florida now regularly offer animal law courses and have student organizations focused on the subject. Because law school offerings are a relatively recent development, a large percentage of our section members are also YLD members. Young lawyers are the driving force in our section and a number of the attorneys in our leadership are also members of the YLD.
Being a member of the section gives individuals the opportunity to educate themselves on animal law and be a part of advancing the law when it comes to animal issues.
How to become an ALS member?
Florida Bar members can now join directly through the Bar’s website at the member portal, which is available at this link: bit.ly/JoinAnimalLawSection.
Affiliates, or Bar members that do not wish to join through the portal, can join by following the instructions at our website or calling the Bar directly: www.flabaranimals.org/join
Dues are $35 for regular members and $25 for affiliates. Once a member has joined, they are encouraged to get involved in committee work. Most of the work that the ALS does is accomplished through its various committees. The committees include basic section functions, such as membership and outreach, as well as substantive law committees, such as companion animal and wildlife committees.
What are some of ALS’s past and/or ongoing projects?
We are focusing on growing our membership, reaching out to other sections and legal organizations, and creating more opportunities for educating attorneys and the public. In addition to our newsletters, we have published articles in issues of the Florida Bar Journal and have covered topics including custody disputes, animal hoarding, alligator hunting, dangerous dog litigation, animals in foster care, the Animal Welfare Act, and the distinction between animal rights and animal welfare in the legal arena.
This is also the first year the ALS has offered a full webinar series. It is also planning a standalone seminar on practical tips in animal law in February in addition to the annual seminar that is offered during the annual meeting of the Florida Bar. We also recently obtained the approval of our first judicial training event in Tallahassee at the Florida Bar Headquarters. The CJE training will take place in November and will be offered free to all county, circuit, and appellate judges for free. We intend to use this experience to offer it to judges in other circuits around the state.
We are also in the process of creating a treatise for our members that encompasses Animal Law in Florida. It will be patterned after similar treatises and practice manuals from other sections.
Finally, we continue to embrace technology and social media. We are in the process of revising our website. We also believe that social media is a crucial part of our mission and have been told by The Bar’s social media team that we have the most robust social media presence of any of the sections. We are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, and Instagram and frequently post to each platform.
https://www.facebook.com/FlaBarAnimalLaw/
https://twitter.com/FlaBarAnimalLaw
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8283530
https://www.instagram.com/flabaranimallaw/
What are ALS’s goals and initiatives for 2017-2018 and beyond?
We are making a renewed push to get involved with law students and promote a wide variety of opportunities that the section offers to law students. This year will be the 5th Annual Animal Law Writing Competition, which the ALS co-sponsors with FSU Law School and Pets Ad Litem, Inc., a Tallahassee non-profit organization made up of advocates and professionals providing a legal voice for animals. We also have made it a goal to have a section member speak at every Florida law school and are well on our way to achieving this goal.
We also strongly support The Florida Bar’s diversity and inclusion initiative. We have created a diversity committee for the section. The chair of our diversity committee and an executive council member are attending the Diversity Symposium in November and we hope to implement some of their ideas on making our section more diverse and reaching out to groups that historically have been less active in Bar activities.
While Bar organizations in other states are organized in a number of different ways, we consider ourselves a model and example for other states to follow. We want to serve as a leader that animal sections and committees in other states want to emulate. We have had success in attracting nationally known speakers on animal law and want to continue to have national caliber speakers come to our events and seminars. We have had members participate in each of the past three Animal Law Summits, which is an annual event open to animal law organizations across the country. At some point in the next few years we would like to host a future Animal Law Summit in Florida.
Even though we are the newest section, we believe ALS has the potential to become one of the largest and dynamic sections of The Florida Bar. We would like to be seen as an organization that is on the forefront of this exciting and developing area of law.