Jessica Rubin will explain Connecticut's court advocate program and how advocates can work with ACOs to help their cases continue to resolution through the judicial system.

Professor Rubin is the Associate Dean for Experiential Education, Clinical Professor of Law, and Director of the Animal Law Clinic at the University of Connecticut Law School.  She was instrumental in the creation of Desmond’s Law, which allows Connecticut courts to appoint advocates—law students under supervision—for animals in animal cruelty cases.

Professor Rubin created UConn Law School’s Animal Law Clinic, a clinic through which students appear in state courts as animal advocates under Desmond’s Law.  She actively supervises students and appears in court to advocate for justice in cases of animal cruelty.  She is widely regarded as an expert in the field of animal law, and is a graduate of Cornell University and Cornell Law School.  Professor Rubin has taught in Istanbul, Turkey for the Open Society Foundation, and in Seoul, South Korea.  In both locations, she supplemented her teaching activities with local stray animal rescue and relocation efforts.