2026 HSBA Bar Convention - Animal Law Seminar

Nick Keoki Kilstein, Senior Law Clerk to Justice Elizabeth M. Welch

Moderator: Panel 1: Intersection Between Animal Law and Indigenous Peoples Law

Nicholas (Nick) Keoki Kilstein currently serves as Senior Law Clerk to Justice Elizabeth M. Welch. In that position, Mr. Kilstein manages the Justice's staff and serves as her senior legal advisor. Before joining Justice Welch’s team, Nick served as a law clerk to Judge Eric L. Clay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and to Judge John W. Holcomb of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School.

Before attending law school, Mr.Kilstein spent about a decade working as a high school history teacher and a professional mixed martial arts coach in the United States and India. Nick and his wife Chloe live with their two cats and their dog in Chloe’s tribal homeland of Bahweting (the Place of the Rapids), also known as Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Nick also runs Superior MMA, a nonprofit mixed martial arts team serving predominantly Native athletes based out of Sault Ste. Marie.

Mr. Kilstein is part Kanaka Maoli and he spent his childhood summers with his family on O‘ahu and Maui. His mother grew up in Kaimuki, and his family descends from Maui and Molokai.

Jessica Chapman, Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Criminal Justice Program

Panelist: Panel 1: Intersection Between Animal Law and Indigenous Peoples Law

Jessica Chapman is a staff attorney with the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Criminal Justice Program. Her work focuses on implementing trauma-informed strategies to resolve underlying causes of animal cruelty; promoting alternative outcomes or sentences to animal criminal cases that support and heal all involved parties; and supporting human and animal communities through her collaborations with advocates and citizens of Indigenous Nations and through her collaborations with advocates and citizens of U.S. territories.

Dr. Kelsey Leonard, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo

Panelist: Panel 1: Intersection Between Animal Law and Indigenous Peoples Law

Kelsey Leonard, JD, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo and a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Waters, Climate and Sustainability. An enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, her scholarship focuses on Indigenous law, environmental and Earth law, animal law, and the legal recognition of the rights of nature. Her work examines how Indigenous legal orders and relational approaches to law can transform the governance and protection of waters, lands, species, and ecosystems. 

Dr. Leonard is also a contributor to the Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Animal Law.

Savannah Sherman, Chair of the Animal Law Section of the Hawai’i State Bar Association

Moderator: Panel 2: Animal Law in the Media

Panel 3: Trailblazers in Animal Law

Savannah Sherman is a Hawai‘i attorney and the founding Chair of the Animal Law Section of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association. She is a Master of Laws Candidate in Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School. 

Ms. Sherman has published scholarly articles on various animal law issues, including animal testing, hunting regulations, and federal legislation. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering at the Aloha Animal Sanctuary and spending time outdoors.

Denise Cartolano, Operations & Legal Counsel for Sentient Media

Panelist: Panel 2: Animal Law in the Media

Denise Cartolano is the Operations & Legal Counsel for Sentient Media. Prior to this role, she served as an Attorney Advisor at the Department of Justice, a position she obtained through the Attorney General's Honors Program.

Ms. Cartolano earned her B.A. in Political Science from Brooklyn College in 2008 and her A.A.S. in Veterinary Technology from LaGuardia Community College in 2011. In May 2016, she graduated in the top ten percent of her class at Barry University School of Law, magna cum laude. She went on to receive an LL.M. in Homeland and National Security Law from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in December 2018, and most recently completed an LL.M. in Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School in May 2026.

Ms. Cartolano pursued her Animal Law LL.M. to deepen her expertise in the field and prepare for nonprofit work. She was awarded the William C. Borst Anti-Vivisection Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship covering the duration of her LL.M. program. During the summer of 2025, she completed a Government Affairs Internship at the Animal Welfare Institute, and she served as a Research Assistant to Professor Joyce Tischler. She also worked as a research assistant to Professor Randall S. Abate, editing chapters for his book, "What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law?"

Dr. Johnny Lieberman, MD, CPHQ, MSL, host of "Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health," Washington, D.C.

Panelist: Panel 2: Animal Law in the Media

Dr. Johnny Lieberman is an Infectious Diseases Physician who practiced medicine for over 20 years in Colorado. He closed his practice in 2021 and in 2024 completed his Masters in Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School. He continues to operate his own expert witness practice, website and blog as well as offering other services that help to advance animal protection policy.

While in law school, Dr. Lieberman published his first law review article - in -Fordham Environmental Law Review -that draws on his medical background and animal law training. He also started a podcast, Puppies Pandemics and Public Health, to educate and inform the public about many of the animal welfare issues hiding in plain sight - and to help raise awareness that leads to action. His book Pigs Poultry and Pandemics is available on Amazon.

Dr. Lieberman is a dog dad. He rescued Siena - a collie / shepherd mix from a shelter in Colorado and she has been a loving furry family member since.

Dr. Lieberman is a musician. He enjoys piano and misses not having one at the moment. He is also a novice vocalist and songwriter, having composed 4 songs and professionally recorded 2 of them!

Dr. Lieberman’s primary areas of focus in animal welfare include puppy mills, animal farmed for food and clothing, and animals in research.

Dr. Lieberman lives in Washington DC with his dog Siena.

Justice Elizabeth Welch, Michigan Supreme Court

Panelist: Panel 3: Trailblazers in Animal Law

Justice Elizabeth M. Welch joined the Michigan Supreme Court on January 1, 2021. She currently serves on the Michigan Judicial Council (the strategic planning body for Michigan’s courts) and as the Justice liaison on technology issues (which includes data gathering, e-filing programs, and the use of artificial intelligence tools). She also co-chairs the Commission on Fairness and Public Trust. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice Welch practiced labor/employment law for 25 years, representing clients in litigation, arbitrations, and administrative agency proceedings. Justice Welch also provided representation in abuse/neglect cases, worked of counsel with a criminal defense practice, and counseled nonprofit organizations on board governance.

Justice Welch previously served on her local school board, volunteered as mediator, and dedicated many years to advocacy for public education. She has served on numerous nonprofit boards and currently serves as Vice President of the Steelcase Foundation. She received her law degree from Ohio State University and her undergraduate degree from Penn State University. She and her husband Brian live in Grand Rapids and have four adult children.

Judge Jenny Rivera, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals

Panelist: Panel 3: Trailblazers in Animal Law

Jenny Rivera, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, has spent her entire professional career in public service. She clerked for the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, on the Southern District of New York, and also clerked in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals Pro Se Law Clerk’s Office. She worked for the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Family Rights Project, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (renamed Latino Justice PRLDEF), and was appointed by the New York State Attorney General as Special Deputy Attorney General for Civil Rights. Judge Rivera has been an Administrative Law Judge for the New York State Division for Human Rights and served on the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Prior to her appointment, she was a tenured faculty member of the City University of New York School of Law, where she founded and served as Director of the Law School’s Center on Latino and Latina Rights and Equality.

Judge Rivera is a renowned legal scholar and has published extensively on interpersonal violence, women’s rights, and legal issues that impact the Latino community. She served on the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities from 2010 to 2012 and, as the Rapporteur to the Commission, Judge Rivera authored the Report, Latinos in the United States: Overcoming Legal Obstacles, Engaging in Civic Life. She currently serves as Chair of the ABA’s Board of Elections and is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s (NYSBA) Task Force on the U.S. Territories, and she has previously served as Elections Chair for the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), all by appointment of the respective Bar Association President. She is a former member of the HNBA Latina Commission and, in collaboration with the HNBA, Judge Rivera co-authored a report on Latina attorneys in the public interest sector, La Voz de la Abogada Latina: Challenges and Rewards in Serving the Public Interest. Judge Rivera has received several awards, including the ABA Spirit of Excellence Award and the NYSBA Diversity Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Puerto Rican Bar Association’s Presidential Medal.

Judge Rivera is an elected member of the American Law Institute, the leading independent US organization that produces scholarly work to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law, including the Restatements of the Law, Model Codes, and Principles of Law. She is an appointed member of the HNBA Presidential National Task Force on Hispanic Law Faculty and Deans.

Judge Rivera graduated from Princeton University and received her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden Scholar. She received her LL.M. from Columbia University School of Law.

James Gesualdi, Attorney at Law

Panelist: Panel 3: Trailblazers in Animal Law

James F. Gesualdi is an animal law attorney in private practice spanning over 35 years. He is the author of EXCELLENCE BEYOND COMPLIANCE: Enhancing Animal Welfare Through the Constructive Use of the Animal Welfare Act. He has published other numerous articles including as a regular contributing columnist to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Academy’s e-Newsletter (Getting Better All the Time) on continuous improvement and advancing animal interests, protection, and well-being for ten years.

Mr. Gesualdi was a former Special Professor of Law, Hofstra University School of Law, taught Animal Law, and has lectured extensively on constructive approaches to building consensus and fostering transformative, sustainable change to better serve animals. He served as Chair of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Animals and the Law and was the founding Co-Chair, Suffolk County Bar Association Animal Law Committee. He was a Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s first Animal Law committee and The Young Lawyers’ Division Animal Protection Committee. He was Chair of the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Animal Law Committee for the 2025-26 ABA year.

Mr. Gesualdi was the inaugural recipient of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Animals and the Law Exemplary Service Award (2018), and recipient of the American Bar Association, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, Animal Law Committee Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award (2019).

Anna Maidment, Third year law student, University of Hawaiʻi William S. Richardson School of Law

Panelist: Panel 3: Trailblazers in Animal Law

Anna Maidment is a third-year law student at the University of Hawaiʻi William S. Richardson School of Law and President of the school’s Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter.

Ms. Maidment’s commitment to animal protection extends beyond the law, including experience as a shark ecotour safety diver and a TLC volunteer with Aloha Animal Sanctuary. Anna has worked with the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Legislative Affairs and Pro Bono Programs, gaining experience in legislative advocacy, policy research, and animal law. She has successfully testified before the Hawaiʻi State Legislature to prevent octopus farming and advocated to prevent the taking of manta rays in Florida. Anna also attended COP30 in Brazil, as a delegate of the University of Hawaiʻi’s Environmental Law Program.

Ms. Maidment was recently awarded the 2026 Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Advancement of Animal Law Scholarship in recognition of her commitment to advancing the field of animal law.

Megan Senatori, Executive Director of the Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS)

Panelist: Panel 3: Trailblazers in Animal Law

Megan Senatori is the Executive Director of the Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS). She has been instrumental in shaping CALS outreach, development and communications efforts and leads new opportunities to grow the discipline and advance animal protection through academia. In 2026, she was honored with the American Bar Association’s Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award.

An accomplished litigator with almost two decades of experience, Ms. Senatori served as Litigation Practice Group Chair for five years for a 120 attorney law firm with litigators across three offices prior to joining CALS in 2019. Her practice consisted of a wide-range of complex civil litigation. She also represented veterinarians and veterinary clinics and litigated cases to advance protections for animals, including cases involving animal cruelty, breed specific legislation, the police shooting of companion dogs, tort cases involving animals, custody/placement disputes, domestic violence, and more. She co-authored an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of 43 law professors to argue in United States v. Stevens that preventing animal cruelty is a compelling governmental interest. She received the Animal Legal Defense Fund Pro Bono Achievement Award in 2013.

Ms. Senatori has an extensive history in teaching animal law and alternative dispute resolution. She routinely presents to attorneys, veterinarians, humane officers and law enforcement regarding animal issues, including teaching a portion of the annual Wisconsin Humane Officer Certification Program.

Ms. Senatori has significant experience regarding the link between animal cruelty and domestic violence. In 2001, she co-founded Sheltering Animals of Abuse Victims (SAAV) a volunteer-powered nonprofit organization that recognizes animals as vital family members and arranges for their safe harbor when a domestic abuse victim seeks refuge from an abuser. She continues to serve as SAAV President. Megan has been featured for her work in O Magazine and many other publications."