Animal Rights and Human Benefits

Speakers for this event

• Dr. Rajesh Reddy

  Dr. Rajesh Reddy

  Dr. Rajesh K. Reddy directs the Animal Law Program at the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School, where he teaches International Animal Law, Animal Legal Philosophy, and Emerging Topics in Animal Law, as well as oversees its advanced animal law degree programs for both lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Outside of Lewis & Clark, he chairs the International Animal Law Subcommittee of the Animal Law Section of the American Bar Association and serves on the boards of Minding Animals International and the International Coalition for Animal Protection (ICAP). Through ICAP, he is a co-drafter of the Convention on Animal Protection for Public Health, Animal Well-Being, and the Environment (CAP), which ICAP is advancing as a foundation for treaty negotiations to develop the world’s first comprehensive treaty to secure the interests of animals worldwide. A former Editor-in-Chief of the Animal Law Review, his work has appeared in the Global Journal of Animal Law, Animals and Race, International Juriste, and elsewhere.

• Dr. Steven Tauber

  Dr. Steven Tauber

  Dr. Steven Tauber is a Professor of Political Science in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of South Florida. He was the chair of the Department of Government & International Affairs from 2012 through 2016, and he was the founding Director of the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, serving from 2016 through 2019. He teaches classes in American politics, American political thought, and judicial politics. He has published numerous journal articles and chapters in edited volumes on a variety of topics in political science, but his research mainly focuses on social justice politics, especially on the issue of the exploitation of nonhuman animals. His book Navigating the Jungle: Law, Politics, and the Animal Advocacy Movement (Routledge 2016) investigates the political constraints facing animal activists’ use of the judiciary to achieve justice for animals. His forthcoming article in Society & Animals provides sophisticated, comprehensive measures of how well nations treat nonhuman animals. In 2022 he received a grant from the Culture & Animals Foundation to build a database of nations’ high court decision that directly affect animals’ interests. In addition to his work in human-animal studies, his award-winning coauthored (with Paula McClain, Duke University) book American Government in Black and White (Oxford University Press, 6th edition, 2023) examines the essentials of American government through the lens of race and ethnicity.

• Jake Davis

  Jake Davis

  Jake Davis is a Colorado-licensed, Montana-based staff attorney for the NhRP. He is the lead attorney for the NhRP's California litigation. Previously, Jake worked in federal court (under the Honorable S. James Otero of the United States District Court for the Central District of California), for the U.S. government (at the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California), and in private practice (Squire Patton Boggs). Along with his work at the NhRP, Jake clerks part-time for Montana's 11th Judicial District Court. He holds a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, and a B.A. from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a proud human to a rescued pitbull dog named Archie.

• Laura Roe

  Laura Roe

  Laura Roe currently serves as the Police Legal Counsel for the St. Petersburg Police Department. Prior to joining the SPPD, Mrs. Roe clerked for the Honorable Daniel H. Sleet at Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal and worked as an associate at Boyd & Jenerette P.A. in St. Petersburg. She has taught legal writing, appellate advocacy, and introduction to law courses at the University of Tampa and has given CLE presentations on the effective navigation of the digital appellate record, privacy concerns in electronic communication and social media, and expert discovery. Mrs. Roe earned her B.A. in English with a minor in History from the University of Florida in 2008. She received her J.D. from the University of Florida in 2011 with certificates in International Law and Intellectual Property Law. She is the immediate past chair of the Appellate Court Rules Committee of the Florida Bar. Mrs. Roe is also a co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Florida Bar’s Appellate Practice Section and treasurer of the Florida Bar’s Animal Law Section. She is an active member of the American Bar Association. Mrs. Roe is married to Austin Roe. They enjoy spending time with their son and their dog, cats, fish and other animal family members.