Animal Law Guild Conference 2014
Nonprofit Trailblazers
Nonprofit Trailblazers
Peter Brandt, Senior Attorney, Farm Animals, Animal Protection
Litigation, The Humane Society of the United States
Peter Brandt is the Senior Attorney for Farm Animal Litigation with the Humane Society of the United States’ Animal Protection Litigation (APL) section. APL conducts precedent-setting legal campaigns on behalf of animals in state and federal courts around the country. With a staff of 15 lawyers and a network of over 1,000 pro bono lawyers, APL is the largest Animal Protection Litigation program in the country. Peter has been involved in animal protection issues for over a decade, and currently oversees the entire farm animal litigation docket for The HSUS. He received his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School and he holds a B.A. from Whitman College.
Peter Brandt is the Senior Attorney for Farm Animal Litigation with the Humane Society of the United States’ Animal Protection Litigation (APL) section. APL conducts precedent-setting legal campaigns on behalf of animals in state and federal courts around the country. With a staff of 15 lawyers and a network of over 1,000 pro bono lawyers, APL is the largest Animal Protection Litigation program in the country. Peter has been involved in animal protection issues for over a decade, and currently oversees the entire farm animal litigation docket for The HSUS. He received his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School and he holds a B.A. from Whitman College.
Vandhana Bala, General Counsel, Mercy for Animals
Vandhana Bala serves as general counsel for Mercy For Animals and oversees the organization’s legal initiatives, which include working with investigations department staff and local law enforcement for criminal prosecutions of farmed animal abusers, developing lawsuits and initiating complaints to governmental agencies relating to illegal agribusiness operations.
Since joining MFA in 2011, Vandhana has worked on several investigations that have led to successful criminal prosecutions of farmed animal abusers, including the first-ever felony conviction for cruelty to factory-farmed poultry and charges of criminal animal abuse brought against two different factory farm owners. She also filed a successful petition with the Federal Trade Commission regarding false advertising by an egg factory farm. Vandhana has presented several talks to bar associations and law schools across the country, and has been a speaker at the Animal Rights National Conference. She has also been interviewed by numerous media outlets on ag-gag bills and MFA’s undercover investigations.
Vandhana Bala serves as general counsel for Mercy For Animals and oversees the organization’s legal initiatives, which include working with investigations department staff and local law enforcement for criminal prosecutions of farmed animal abusers, developing lawsuits and initiating complaints to governmental agencies relating to illegal agribusiness operations.
Since joining MFA in 2011, Vandhana has worked on several investigations that have led to successful criminal prosecutions of farmed animal abusers, including the first-ever felony conviction for cruelty to factory-farmed poultry and charges of criminal animal abuse brought against two different factory farm owners. She also filed a successful petition with the Federal Trade Commission regarding false advertising by an egg factory farm. Vandhana has presented several talks to bar associations and law schools across the country, and has been a speaker at the Animal Rights National Conference. She has also been interviewed by numerous media outlets on ag-gag bills and MFA’s undercover investigations.
David Edward Burke, Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, Expand Animal
Rights Now
David Edward Burke brings both political and legal experience to his role as EARN’s Chief Operating Officer. After graduating from UCLA in 2004 with a degree in Political Science, David moved across the country to work for the House Ways and Means Committee in the United States Congress. While in DC he worked on two successful Congressional campaigns and learned the value of emphasizing practical solutions and building unlikely coalitions.
David returned to UCLA for law school in 2006, where he served on student government, taught legal writing to first year students, and was named the Outstanding Attorney in the Akin Gump Mock Trial Competition and an Outstanding Oral Advocate in the Jones Day Moot Court Competition. David also worked for the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division before graduating from UCLA School of Law in 2009. After graduation David clerked for Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Ralph Dau and Zaven Sinanian.
David's interest in animal rights dates back to the first time he read Fast Food Nation. He began working on behalf of animals in 2008 as the West Los Angeles Captain for the Yes On Proposition 2 campaign and hasn’t stopped since. David subsequently worked on the Fur Free West Hollywood campaign and helped organize Worldfest, Southern California’s largest Earth Day festival that also promotes veganism.
David currently works as a civil litigation attorney, specializing in animal rights law. He is also an avid writer. He has written articles and given interviews about reducing the corrosive influence of money in politics, about the possibility of animals obtaining rights as legal persons, and about other topics pertaining to social justice.
David Edward Burke brings both political and legal experience to his role as EARN’s Chief Operating Officer. After graduating from UCLA in 2004 with a degree in Political Science, David moved across the country to work for the House Ways and Means Committee in the United States Congress. While in DC he worked on two successful Congressional campaigns and learned the value of emphasizing practical solutions and building unlikely coalitions.
David returned to UCLA for law school in 2006, where he served on student government, taught legal writing to first year students, and was named the Outstanding Attorney in the Akin Gump Mock Trial Competition and an Outstanding Oral Advocate in the Jones Day Moot Court Competition. David also worked for the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division before graduating from UCLA School of Law in 2009. After graduation David clerked for Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Ralph Dau and Zaven Sinanian.
David's interest in animal rights dates back to the first time he read Fast Food Nation. He began working on behalf of animals in 2008 as the West Los Angeles Captain for the Yes On Proposition 2 campaign and hasn’t stopped since. David subsequently worked on the Fur Free West Hollywood campaign and helped organize Worldfest, Southern California’s largest Earth Day festival that also promotes veganism.
David currently works as a civil litigation attorney, specializing in animal rights law. He is also an avid writer. He has written articles and given interviews about reducing the corrosive influence of money in politics, about the possibility of animals obtaining rights as legal persons, and about other topics pertaining to social justice.
Cheryl Leahy, General Counsel, Compassion Over Killing
Cheryl Leahy is a leading animal rights lawyer. She is general counsel for Compassion Over Killing, a nonprofit animal advocacy organization based out of Washington, D.C., and leads their legal advocacy program. Compassion Over Killing works to end animal abuse, focuses on cruelty to animals in agriculture, and promotes vegetarian eating. As general counsel, Leahy's work targets large-scale abuse of farmed animals through investigation and litigation. This litigation includes criminal animal cruelty prosecutions and their equivalent, challenges to federal administrative agencies, false advertising claims against companies misleading consumers about the way their animals are treated, and unfair business practices cases, among others. In 2011 Leahy conducted the initial case research and development for an antitrust class action alleging a price fixing scheme by the American dairy industry. Leahy also currently serves as counsel for the Humane Party, where her duties include legal tasks related to the establishment and popularization of a new and emergent national political party.
Leahy is the author of "Large-Scale Farmed Animal Abuse and Neglect, Law and its Enforcement," Journal of Animal Law and Ethics, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Fall 2011, and she is a co-author of "Farm-Animal Welfare, Legislation and Trade," Journal of Law and Contemporary Problems, Duke University School of Law, Spring 2007.
Leahy earned her B.A. in Environmental Studies with honors from the University of Chicago in 2003. She then received her J.D. from UCLA in 2006, where she served as president of the Animal Law Society as well as its director of development and outreach. Also during law school, Leahy was a semi-finalist and earned honorable mention in the National Center for Animal Law's animal advocacy moot court competitions held at Harvard Law School in February 2005.
Cheryl Leahy is a leading animal rights lawyer. She is general counsel for Compassion Over Killing, a nonprofit animal advocacy organization based out of Washington, D.C., and leads their legal advocacy program. Compassion Over Killing works to end animal abuse, focuses on cruelty to animals in agriculture, and promotes vegetarian eating. As general counsel, Leahy's work targets large-scale abuse of farmed animals through investigation and litigation. This litigation includes criminal animal cruelty prosecutions and their equivalent, challenges to federal administrative agencies, false advertising claims against companies misleading consumers about the way their animals are treated, and unfair business practices cases, among others. In 2011 Leahy conducted the initial case research and development for an antitrust class action alleging a price fixing scheme by the American dairy industry. Leahy also currently serves as counsel for the Humane Party, where her duties include legal tasks related to the establishment and popularization of a new and emergent national political party.
Leahy is the author of "Large-Scale Farmed Animal Abuse and Neglect, Law and its Enforcement," Journal of Animal Law and Ethics, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Fall 2011, and she is a co-author of "Farm-Animal Welfare, Legislation and Trade," Journal of Law and Contemporary Problems, Duke University School of Law, Spring 2007.
Leahy earned her B.A. in Environmental Studies with honors from the University of Chicago in 2003. She then received her J.D. from UCLA in 2006, where she served as president of the Animal Law Society as well as its director of development and outreach. Also during law school, Leahy was a semi-finalist and earned honorable mention in the National Center for Animal Law's animal advocacy moot court competitions held at Harvard Law School in February 2005.