Pamela Vesilind

Professor Vesilind is a visiting assistant professor for the 2011-2012 academic year, and a Fellow in the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. She teaches Property, Professional Responsibility, and Animals & the Law. An expert in animal law and food law, her focus has been on animals in agriculture, conflicts between animal rights and the First and Fourth Amendments, the public trust doctrine, and food labeling law. In addition to teaching courses in animal law, Vesilind supervises J.D. independent study and LL.M. thesis projects covering a broad spectrum of legal and policy-based topics related to animals. She coaches the Animal Law Society's Moot Court team and advises the Animal Law Society. Past presentations have covered topics including the commercial speech doctrine and food labeling laws, limitations on free expression in animal rights advocacy, and “humane labeling” for foods derived from animals.

Vesilind joined the faculty in 2009 as the assistant director of the Academic Success Program. With ASP she taught Legal Methods and developed the 1L Clinic Series, a program designed to accelerate first-year mastery of basic legal analysis, writing, and study skills.  

Publications:  

• Continental Drift: Agricultural Trade & the Widening Gap between European Union & United States Animal Welfare Laws, 12 Vt. J. Envtl. L. 223 (Winter 2011).
• NAFTA’s Trojan Horse & the Demise of the Mexican Hog Industry, 42 U. Miami Int.-Am. L. Rev. 2 (Summer 2011).
• A Preview of United States v. Stevens: Animal Law, Obscenity, and the Limits of Government Censorship, 4 Charleston L. Rev. 59 (Fall 2009) (co-authored with Professor Cheryl Hanna).

In progress:

• Animals & Exigency
• Food Law's One-Two Punch
• Cruelty (with Professor Cheryl Hanna)

SSRN page: http://ssrn.com/author=762256