Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter Hosts Animal Rights Speaker Series

Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter

David Cassuto, director of the Brazil-American Institute for Law and Environment, will speak at noon Thursday, April 11, in the E.J. Ball Courtroom at the School of Law.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter will host the Animal Rights Speaker Series on April 11 in the E.J. Ball Courtroom at the School of Law from noon to 1 p.m. Vegan refreshments will be provided by Mamaka Bowls of Fayetteville.  

The series identifies and brings distinguished speakers who possess academic expertise and/or are nationally recognized in the area of animal rights law or animal sentience to law school each year. 

The purpose is to introduce law students and other interested parties to existing animal protection laws, animal rights, litigation techniques, animal sentience, legal research and other topics focused on serving the interests of the animals and their human advocates under present law and going forward, and to provide in-depth knowledge and forward-looking ideas on animal rights as they now exist. 

This year's speaker is David Cassuto, professor of law, Kerman Family Faculty Scholar and director of the Brazil-American Institute for Law and Environment at Pace University's Elisabeth Haub School of Law. The institute is a cooperative endeavor with the Getulio Vargas Foundation School of Law in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cassuto teaches in the areas of property, professional responsibility, animal law, water law, international comparative law, and legal and environmental theory. 

Previously, professor Cassuto practiced with Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP in San Francisco in its complex litigation division. He was also an associate at Pillsbury Winthrop LLP and served on the executive committee of the San Francisco Bar Association's Environmental Law Practice Group.  

The speaking engagement is supported by the Student Activities Fee as a funded event by the Associated Student Government and is free to all currently enrolled University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, students who pay the student activity fee. This event is held in a venue that meets ADA standards. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend this event. If you require a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this event, please contact Jissel Esparza Saucedo, je018@uark.edu by five business days prior to event. 

The speaker series was created in 2022 through the generosity of Dolores Proubasta and Christopher Liner, who started the Proubasta-Liner Endowed Distinguished Speaker Award.