This past year, I was appointed on the Committee on Animals and the Law for the New York State Bar Association (“NYSBA”). As part of my Committee responsibilities, I am on the sub-committee for the student writing competition. The sub-committee is Chaired by Jessica Sonenshein from Proskauer Rose LLP and Vice-Chaired by Liam Castro from Koehler & Isaacs LLP. Only law students are allowed to submit essays for the competition. The first place is awarded a $1000 scholarship and second place is awarded a $500 scholarship. In only the second year of the competition, 23 essays were submitted this summer.
I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this subcommittee and thought many of the students did an excellent job discussing very interesting animal law issues. Though most of the essays submitted affected either companion or exotic animals, a few did discuss farm animal laws. I believe there should be more literature available to livestock producers about the laws that affect their lives and encourage more law students to write about farm animal issues.
Now for the results…
First place essay was awarded to Allison L. Westfall Kong, from New York University, School of Law, Class of 2010. Ms. Kong’s essay titled “Improving the Protection of Species Endangered in the United States by Means of a Revision of the Distinct Population Segment (DPS) Policy” discusses whether the DPS should be revised to permit the listings of species that are solely endangered within the U.S pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). I was extremely impressed by Ms. Kong’s writing skills –she is certainly a rising star in the animal law and environmental law communities. As we all know, there are many issues under the ESA that affect agriculture and livestock production and I hope to address some of these concerns in the future.
Second place was awarded to Andra Waniek, from Brooklyn Law School, Class of 2009. Her paper “Protecting Woman’s Best Friend from Family Violence: Proposal for a Model Statute Including Animals in Protective Orders” delves into the need for protective orders where there is domestic violence. I thought that Ms. Waniek did an excellent job discussing an important societal issue — the battered woman — and the importance that her companion animals be properly protected under the law to help encourage her to go to a domestic violence shelter.
Congrats to both of you!