Law students with specific interest in animals or sustainability – or both – are in luck.
The School of Law recently added a new Animal Law course and a Sustainable Business Law program. Both additions are a result of high student interest and the growth of the respective laws.
The state of Oregon’s “green” mindset and abundant natural resources plus Portland’s business hub status could make the state an ideal place to specialize in sustainable business. The School of Law’s new program will prepare students to work for businesses with a competitive edge in sustainability.
“The next generation’s going to be this green economy, and Oregon’s got a slight lead in developing businesses in a sustainable model,” said assistant professor Rob Illig, who teaches business courses included in the program. “We have natural resources: wave energy, wind energy, water. I think a huge ingredient that’s hard to put your finger on is culture. People in Oregon care about the environment. We want to protect it. We care about it. We’ve also got a very young culture … and that means we’re open to change.”
Illig compared the rise of a green economy to the dot-com boom, during which Internet-based companies exploded in popularity and operated with non-traditional business models. Silicon Valley led the way then in the late 1990s, and it is poised do the same now, Illig said. But Portland is in a position to become one of the runners-up in terms of generating sustainable business, he added.
Climate change is one of the driving factors behind the law program’s implementation. Companies are creating new technologies to combat global warming, and they will need counsel who understand what it means to be a sustainable business, Illig said. The law school’s program is also sustainable in its own right; although some of the courses are taught in Portland as part of the school’s growing presence in the city, faculty use videoconferences to save the fuel required to commute.
One of those courses focuses on renewable energy. Illig actually received a call from a University of California at Berkeley professor who said faculty there were disappointed because they wanted to be the first to offer the course.
The School of Law is unlike undergraduate programs in that students do not major in specific areas, but specialize in them. Upon completion of the sustainable business law program – which comprises a business law curriculum, selected environmental courses, and an externship, paper, business plan or similar project – students receive their Statement of Completion. The statement demonstrates a student’s expertise in the area.
Animal Law, conversely, is not a specialized program track but a one-time seminar. The course is discussion-driven, with topics ranging from the humaneness of zoos to factory farms. Professor Caroline Forell, one of two faculty teaching the course, said they’re starting from scratch in a way because nobody at the law school has had experience with it.
“We’re certainly neophytes in teaching it,” Forell said. “It’s been very educational for both of us.”
Animal Law was partly brought about by third-year graduate student Monica Kerslake, who in spring 2006 founded Oregon Law’s Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, part of the larger national animal legal defense organization. The local group does pro-bono animal law work for the community.
In order for a new course to be added within the school, a curriculum committee has to approve a proposal on a two-year experimental basis. The committee may make the courses permanent if it is successful and the necessary resources are available.
The committee reviews approximately five proposals a year, and most are approved, said Susan Gary, associate dean for academic affairs at the law school. Student interest plays a large part in whether a course is approved. The committee reinstated Animal Law last academic year after a 10-year hiatus.
“I wouldn’t say (there is) a lack of student interest. I’d say there’s a lack of student knowledge about the issue in general,” said Kerslake. “When I started the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund there was nothing in our school. There was nothing organized around animal law at all. But once I organized it there was plenty of interest. It just takes someone not only to start it but to keep it going.”
Kerslake hopes to eventually practice animal law, although there are only a few attorneys in the state who practice it exclusively. Animal lawyers can either practice on their own with pet owners or they can work with a nonprofit organization. Kerslake plans to follow the latter path after she has worked enough elsewhere to pay off her student loans.
Even though Kerslake already has notable experience within the realm of animal law, she said she’s learning and benefiting from the course.
“What I’m so happy to see is that the law school community is recognizing the importance of animal law,” Kerslake said. “I hope that the Animal Law course will continue to be taught in years to come as the field of animal law continues to grow. I don’t want to see another 10-year gap.”
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