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Students work around a table with their clinical instructor

The Animal Law & Policy Clinic provides students with direct hands-on experience in animal advocacy on behalf of both captive animals and wildlife, including litigation, legislation, administrative practice, and policymaking.

Students will be introduced to the overarching issues that non-human animal law advocates face in their work, including rulemaking petitions, open-government laws, and basic litigation, legislative, administrative, and organizing strategies. Students also learn how to pursue advocacy under several substantive areas of the law, including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Animal Welfare Act, the Humane Slaughter Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Wild Horse and Burros Act, and state animal cruelty codes.

How to Register

The Animal Law & Policy Clinic is offered in the Fall and Spring semesters. You can learn about the required clinical course component and clinical credits, in the Course Catalog.

Meet the Instructors

Katherine Meyer headshot

Katherine Meyer

Clinic Director and Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor

kmeyer@law.harvard.edu

1607 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138

Prior to joining Harvard, Meyer was a founding partner of the public interest law firm, Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks (formerly Meyer & Glitzenstein), which the Washingtonian Magazine hailed as “the most effective public interest law firm in Washington, D.C.” She has extensive federal and state court litigation experience, and is known for finding innovative ways to advance her clients’ interests.

Rachel Mathews headshot

Rachel Mathews

Clinical Instructor

rmathews@law.harvard.edu

1607 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138

Rachel Mathews is an animal rights attorney and activist. Prior to joining Harvard’s Animal Law & Policy Clinic, she served as Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement at the PETA Foundation, where she helped build a team of lawyers, veterinarians, captive wildlife specialists, and other professionals to fight industries that exploit wild animals for entertainment, such as circuses and Tiger King-style roadside zoos. She has particular expertise in elephants and traveling animal acts, and her legal advocacy has encompassed a broad range of laws at all levels of government, including the Animal Welfare Act, Endangered Species Act, Freedom of Information Act, state and local wildlife laws, worker and consumer protection laws, and more.

headshot of Rebecca Garverman

Rebecca Garverman

Clinical Fellow

rgarverman@law.harvard.edu

1607 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138

Rebecca Garverman is a graduate of Harvard Law School, class of 2021. Rebecca previously worked as a Junior Associate at Goodwin Procter, working primarily in the Life Sciences Intellectual Property and Strategic Transactions practice. As a 3L at HLS, Rebecca won both 2021 Animal Law & Policy Writing prizes and served as the Communications Chair of the Animal Law Society.

headshot of Carney Anne Nasser

Carney Anne Nasser

Clinic Research Fellow

cnasser@law.harvard.edu

1607 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138

Carney Anne Nasser is a career animal protection attorney and big cat expert who has been described by Rachel Nuwer of the New York Times as “the go-to person in the country for laws pertaining to big cat ownership.” Indeed, it is Carney Anne who pitched the wildlife trafficking case against the infamous “Tiger King” Joe Exotic to the Department of Justice and federal investigators that triggered a five-year investigation leading to his conviction for multiple federal crimes.

Staff Members

Sarah PickeringCommunications Directorspickering@law.harvard.edu
Ceallaigh ReddyProgram Administratorcreddy@law.harvard.edu

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