Amy P. Wilson received an International Advocates Animal Law LLM Scholarship from the Center for Animal Law Studies.
Amy is the Aquatic Animal Law Initiative Fellow at the Center for Animal Law Studies where she focuses on regulation and legal protection for aquatic animals and assists with the Animal Law Clinic directed by Professor Kathy Hessler. Amy is the first South African attorney to graduate with a Master’s degree in Animal Law (Lewis & Clark Law School ’18). Amy has ten years of legal experience and is passionate about the study and attainment of animal, human, and nature rights.
Amy is co-founder and director of the first organization dedicated to animal law in South Africa - Animal Law Reform South Africa. She is a trustee of the Humane Education Trust (HET) and co-founder of the Coalition of African Animal Welfare Organisations (CAAWO), as well as Lawyers for Animal Protection in Africa (LAPA).
Locally, Amy has worked with the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), World Animal Protection (WAP), and Animal Equality (AE), researching and consulting on a broad variety of animal law and animal protection matters.
Amy received both her BCOM and LLB law degrees from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. During her studies, she established the first Animal Law student group at her university and received a full scholarship to participate in the Lucerne Academy for Implementation of Human Rights (University of Lucerne in Switzerland’s Summer School). After completing her law degree, she practiced as a corporate attorney for over six years at the largest law firm in Africa, ENSafrica, and worked on animal law related matters on a pro bono basis for game reserves and wildlife and animal protection organizations, among others.
Amy has been published in the international animal law journal, dA. Derecho Animal. Forum of Animal Law Studies, international journal, Society Register and the US publication The Revelator (an initiative of the Center for Biological Diversity). She is currently co-authoring the first Aquatic Animal Law Textbook in the world and working on chapter contributions for two upcoming books. She has presented to audiences around the world including Hong Kong (University of Hong Kong), Poland (University of Silesia), Kenya (United Nations Environment), England (Oxford University – Oxford Center for Animal Ethics), Canada and throughout the USA and South Africa.