Meet the Law Scholars for Change Scholarship Recipients
Introducing Lewis & Clark Law Students Mei Brunson and Suzannah Smith
The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) is pleased to announce Mei Brunson and Suzannah Smith as the recipients of the 2024-25 Animal Law Tuition Scholarships through the Law Scholars for Change Program. They are the Co-Directors of the Lewis & Clark Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter this academic year.
Founded by Charles Anderson and Pamela Gross, the Law Scholars for Change Program supports individuals who have demonstrated the passion and commitment to promote the well-being and protection of animals through the law. The Animal Law Tuition Scholarships are awarded annually to support students who strive to advance the legal status of animals through innovations in awareness and advocacy, policy and regulation, and the use of new and existing laws to create positive change.
Scholarships are for JD students who are pursuing a Certificate in Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School, with preference given to students seeking to specialize in industrial animal agriculture law after graduation.
Mei is a 3L at Lewis & Clark Law School. Fueled by her passion for food justice, she aims to leverage litigation to reform the industrial animal agriculture system. She believes that creativity and tenacity are key to challenging the entrenched assumption that animals – along with everything else under the sun – are exploitable.
Throughout law school, Mei has interned with Animal Partisan, the Center for Animal Law Studies, Earthjustice, Farm Sanctuary, and the Humane Society of the United States. She currently interns with Food & Water Watch, serves as submissions editor for the Animal Law Review, and co-directs the Lewis & Clark Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter. Her paper, Blue Blood Money: Draining Horseshoe Crabs for Profit, will be published in the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law later this year. The article examines the practice of harvesting and extracting blood from horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes in the U.S., advocating for its replacement with an available, animal-free alternative. Recently, Mei won second place for the paper in the New York State Bar Association Committee on Animals and the Law’s student writing competition. Upon graduation, Mei will clerk for the Honorable Judge Kristina Hellman on the Oregon Court of Appeals and continue developing her legal skills from behind the bench.
Of the scholarship, Mei says “Thanks to the vibrant Lewis & Clark animal law community, my specializing in animal law during law school has rarely felt lonely. I am grateful to have received the Law Scholars for Change Scholarship, which further validates and supports my commitment to reforming the industrialized food system.”
When she’s not studying, Mei enjoys hosting themed dinner parties and supervising her two senior cats’ backyard access.
Suzannah is a 3L at Lewis & Clark Law School. She is seeking both the Animal Law Certificate and the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Certificate and wants to litigate against concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) using environmental laws.
She is the Co-Director of the L&C Animal Legal Defense Fund and is excited to continue working with the board to host lectures, volunteer events, and other opportunities for L&C students to engage with animal law. She is also the Editor in Chief of Animal Law Review, the nation’s oldest law journal dedicated to animal law. Last year, she served as the Symposium Editor and planned a symposium on strategies to litigate against CAFOs. As a member of the Earthrise Law Center clinic, she also helped plan the Environmental Law Symposium by researching the connection between animal agriculture and climate change in addition to working on Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act cases. Additionally, Suzannah has served as the Law Scholars for Change Law Clerk co-authoring the paper A Comparative Analysis of Farmed Animal Protection Laws in the European Union and the United States with Professor Joyce Tischler. As Professor Tischler’s clerk, Suzannah also worked on the Industrial Animal Agriculture Law Casebook which will be the first of its kind and is being co-authored by Professor Tischler, Sonia Waisman, Cristina Stella, and Bruce Myers.
Suzannah has also clerked with Animal Defense Partnership providing pro bono legal service to animal nonprofits and with the litigation program at Animal Legal Defense Fund where she drafted public comments to the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Quality, wrote an internal memorandum on potential litigation claims, and conducted research on state “ag-gag” laws. She is currently clerking with the Sustainable Food and Farming Program at Earthjustice.
Suzannah’s goal is to pursue a career dedicated to using the law to combat CAFOs. She says: “What has long drawn me to law is the promise of systemic change. Law is never static, and within this liminal space there is so much possibility driven by public concern over the climate crisis, environmental racism, public health, and animal welfare. Society is primed for legal change, change that could affect trillions of lives, both human and non-human. I am passionate about helping bring about this change.”
The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded Center within the law school operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.
