The question I often receive pertaining to my practice of equine law is “What exactly is the practice of equine law?” Equine law is more of an industry niche in the practice of law that services the equine community in general. As an avid horsewoman, combining the practice of law and my passion for horses has been a rewarding experience. Further, the practice has emphasized that sometimes the smaller the niche the bigger the market.

Our firm now has two attorneys, Ms. Robin McVoy and Ms. Colleen Gentile who specialize in civil animal law. Colleen has over thirteen years of litigation experience and has handled over fifty jury trials. Robin regularly provides pro bono legal representation to the animal welfare community, and has represented a variety of individuals from different facets of the animal world in court, from a non-profit animal rescue, to a dog walker, to a veterinarian. Animal law is a broad area of the law that can encompass any civil or criminal issue that involves an animal, or that can specifically refer to issues arising out of the state code sections that regulate animals.

Some common types of civil animal law issues are: dog bites/attacks, veterinary malpractice, contract disputes involving releasing agencies or breeders, custody disputes, estate planning, implied warranty issues in sale, and business law issues pertaining to business owners whose livelihoods depend on the welfare of animals. While the boundaries of what is, and is not “animal law” may be gray, one thing is clear: the field is growing exponentially.

(Hat tip to Jane Genova and Legal Blog Watch for great statistics.)

This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.