The Name

The world’s first global animal law educational resource library and network hub. A portmanteau of ‘animal’ and ‘lex,’ the Latin word for ‘law,’ Animalex is a worldwide hub for animal law education. Animalex brings together animal law teachers, researchers, and practitioners to foster community and collaboration. Animalex was created to provide a virtual space to share resources, ideas, information and more. By increasing access to animal law expertise, advocacy, and scholarship, Animalex holds the promise of effecting lasting change for animals.

The Institutions

The Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School and the Centre for Professional Legal Education at Bond University and entered into a historic collaboration to design and develop Animalex in 2022.

The Center for Animal Law Studies is home to the Animal Law Program and animal law projects and activities of Lewis & Clark Law School (USA). A thought leader in the field, CALS offers the most extensive animal law curriculum in the world – offering more than 25 diverse animal law courses, with 18 distinct courses in rotation each year. Lewis & Clark law students may also specialize in animal law by earning an Animal Law Certificate. CALS also offers the world’s first and only advanced legal degree in Animal Law and the nation’s first Master of Studies in Animal Law for non-lawyers. Both advanced degrees are offered in-person and online. CALS was founded in 2008 through a collaborative effort between the Law School and the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Lewis & Clark Law School had long been a leader and pioneer in the field of animal law education dating back to 1992. It is home to the first legal journal devoted exclusively to animal law (Animal Law), the first student animal law organization (the Lewis & Clark Animal Legal Defense Fund), and the world’s longest-running animal law conference, and the world’s first Dean of Animal Law.

The Centre for Professional Legal Education was established at Bond University in 2015 as a community of legal educators, researchers, practitioners and administrators who collaborate in defining, understanding, and promoting best practice in the teaching of law, with an emphasis upon professional legal education and training, and understanding and responding to the changing nature of the legal services sector. The Centre’s members include more than 20 scholars from within the Faculty of Law at Bond as well as several external scholars and practitioners. CPLE has led the development and delivery of innovative new programs and subjects in the areas of legal education, dispute resolution, personal and corporate insolvency, enterprise governance and animal law education (in collaboration with Voiceless).

The Team

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, among others. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Animal Law Review, the world’s first journal dedicated to animal law scholarship. In addition, he sits on the boards of the International Coalition for Animal Protection and Minding Animals International. Through his consultancy work, he helped advance the effort to secure the discovery rights of hippos facing mass slaughter in Colombia, with the resulting court order constituting the first recognition of animal legal personhood in the U.S. outside of mere dicta.

Professor Nick James is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bond University. He is a former commercial lawyer and has been practising as an academic since 1996. He is passionate about legal education and the role of law schools in modern society. His areas of teaching expertise include law in context, legal theory, animal law, business law, and company law. He has won numerous awards for his teaching including a National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, and he is the author of several leading textbooks. He has written numerous journal articles, book chapters and conference papers in the areas of legal education, critical legal theory, disruption of the legal services sector and the impacts of climate change. Professor James is Co-Director of the Bond University Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLE), Co-Chair of the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD), President of the Australasian Animal Law Teachers Association (AALTRA), Immediate Past Chair of the Australasian Law Academics Association (ALAA), and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Dr. Meg Good is an Honorary Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law at Bond University and an Adjunct Lecturer at the School of Law at the University of Tasmania. She holds a PhD in environmental human rights law and has been working and volunteering in the animal law sector for over a decade. Meg has guest lectured into animal law courses across the country, as well as previously teaching in the UTAS and Macquarie University courses. She was a co-founder of the Australian Alliance for Animals where she formerly held the role of Head of Campaigns and Legal Counsel, and currently sits on the Board of Voiceless where she earlier worked as Senior Program Manager and Legal Counsel. She has volunteered extensively in the area, currently sitting on the Executive Committees for the Australasian Animal Law Teachers’ and Researchers’ Association and Animalex, and previously holding senior positions with the Animal Law Institute, the Barristers Animal Welfare Panel and the Australian Animal Protection Law Journal. In recognition of her voluntary work, she was awarded the inaugural RSPCA Australia Sybil Emslie Animal Law Scholarship. Prior to her work in the sector, Meg was a sessional lecturer and researcher at UTAS. She currently works in the field of climate advocacy.