Megan Senatori is the executive director of the Center for Animal Law Studies at the Lewis & Clark Law School. She joined the Center in 2019 as the director of strategic initiatives before she was promoted to associate director in 2020. Her work focuses on strategic priorities, innovative programming, and long-term growth initiatives aimed at strengthening animal law education and expanding protections for animals.
An accomplished litigator with nearly 20 years in private practice, Senatori served as Litigation Practice Group chair for five years for a 120-attorney law firm with litigators across three offices in Wisconsin and Minnesota prior to joining CALS in 2019. Her practice included a range of complex civil litigation. She also represented veterinarians and veterinary clinics, as well as litigating cases to advance protections for animals, including animal cruelty, breed specific legislation, the police shooting of companion dogs, tort cases involving companion animals, custody/placement disputes, and domestic violence. She served as co-author of an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of a group of 43 law professors to argue in United States v. Stevens that preventing animal cruelty is a compelling governmental interest.
Senatori has been teaching animal law since 2003, including teaching the first-ever animal law courses at the University of Wisconsin Law School and at Marquette University Law School. She has significant experience regarding the link between animal cruelty and domestic violence, and in 2001, she co-founded Sheltering Animals of Abuse Victims (SAAV) a volunteer-powered nonprofit organization based in Wisconsin 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 and oversees services.
Senatori earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her JD at University of Wisconsin Law School.
Full bio available online.
Two leaders at the intersection of domestic violence and pet cruelty explain the emerging field of law and where the ABA is taking a stand.
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