Nirva Kapasi Patel

Nirva Kapasi Patel

Lecturer

Biography

Professor Nirva Kapasi Patel will be teaching the inaugural Animal Law class at the law school. Prior to coming to the law school, she served several roles at Harvard Law School’s Animal Law & Policy Program including Executive Director, Clinical Instructor and Global Research Fellow. She most recently worked with students to file a groundbreaking federal petition on behalf of the Jain community to urge the USDA to accommodate for religious diet accommodations for all faiths that adhere to a diet free of animal products. Professor Patel served on several animal protection boards, including as Farm Sanctuary Board Chair. She received her B.S in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, her J.D. in law from New England School of Law and her Masters in Animals and Policy from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Professor Patel is the Executive Producer of several award winning documentaries including the Game Changers, 2019’s best-selling documentary on iTunes. Professor Patel lives in Weston (suburb of Boston where she banned the sale of fur via a citizens petition) with her husband, four teenagers, father-in-law, and pet rabbit who was rescued from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In her free time Professor Patel enjoys yoga, gardening and cooking vegan recipes.

Profile Types
Faculty, Lecturers & Adjunct Professors, and Part-Time Faculty
Areas of Interest
Intellectual Property & Information Law

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Activities & Engagements

No upcoming activities or engagements.

Courses

LAW JD 796

Animal Law

3 credits

What legal protections - if any - do animals truly have? How does the law define their worth, their suffering, or their right to exist free from harm? Introduction to Animal Law invites students into a complex and rapidly evolving field at the intersection of legal theory, ethics, and our relationship with non-human animals. We begin by exploring foundational questions: What is the legal status of animals? Are they property, persons, or something in between? From there, we'll examine the legal frameworks that govern human-animal interactions across a wide range of contexts - animals as victims of abuse, as food, as companions, as research subjects, and even as consumers of antibiotics. Along the way, we'll consider the role of animals in entertainment, agriculture, and wildlife policy, highlighting both the explicit and hidden ways the law shapes their lives - and ours. Though the course centers on U.S. Law, it will include comparative and international perspectives to explore how different societies conceptualize animal rights and welfare. A central inquiry will be the motivations behind human efforts to protect animals: Are these rooted in compassion, utility, justice - or something more complex? We will also tackle one of the most pressing legal dilemmas in the field: who was the right to speak for animals, and under what circumstances can humans represent them in legal proceedings? The course is open to all students - no prior legal experience required. Students will be expected to engage critically with readings and contribute thoughtfully to discussions. Rich in legal debate and ethical complexity, animal law challenges us to rethink our most basic assumptions about rights, representation, and justice across species lines. NOTE: There will be a midterm exam and a final (3,000 word) research paper. UPPERCLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to partially satisfy the requirement.