About the Role
The Animal Legal Defense Fund Externship and Volunteer Program gives law students who demonstrate an interest in animal law the opportunity to work with and be trained by top experts in the field. Externs and volunteers are integral members of a program team and work on projects that further the current work of the program and advance the mission and goals of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Externs and volunteers also participate in activities that will allow them to network across the organization with Animal Legal Defense Fund staff and other externs and volunteers and engage them in the mission and goals of the organization.
How You Will Make a Difference:
This position is housed within the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Criminal Justice Program, which:
- Provides investigatory and trial-level assistance to criminal justice professionals striving to secure justice for animals victimized by crime;
- Produces amicus curiae briefs in cases implicating the position of animals within criminal law;
- Supports legislative efforts to improve animal cruelty laws;
- Educates criminal justice practitioners about the juxtaposition between criminal law and animal law; and
- Crafts legal arguments calling for changes in how criminal jurisprudence relates to animals.
About the Organisation
The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. The Animal Legal Defense Fund accomplishes this mission by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are held accountable for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law.