Relevant legal doctrine includes constitutional law (e.g., standing), environmental law (e.g., Endangered Species Act), food and drug law (e.g., the regulation of organic animal products), state statutory law (e.g., anti-cruelty statutes), and state common law (e.g., property rights in animals). The course will begin with philosophical, literary, and scientific texts dealing with the relationship between animals and humans. We will explore rights based, utilitarian, religious, and other traditions that inform how we might approach the question of animal rights and welfare in relation to human interests. Moving from first principles to the law, we shall focus on federal practice, including standing doctrine, the administrative law related to farmed animals and laboratory animals, the relationship between animal and environmental law, and the economics of animal protection. The course will emphasize how legal reasoning takes shape in emerging fields, the interplay between law and social movements, and the role of information as a regulatory tool. Readings will include works by Cass Sunstein, Martha Nussbaum and Richard Epstein.