The Law Offices of Amy A. Breyer, LLC
is the first animal law practice in Illinois. Ms. Breyer is licensed to practice in the state of Illinois, the federal
Northern and Central Districts of Illinois, as well as the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. A 2000 graduate of
the Northwestern University School of Law, her caseload involves primarily litigation, including veterinary malpractice, civil
cruelty claims, condominium/zoning issues, dog bites, consumer fraud, contractual disputes with breeders, as well as various
other torts and negligence. The
Law Offices of Amy A. Breyer, LLC has been featured in the Chicago Tribune’s Sunday Magazine,
the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago's newspaper for the legal profession, The Daily Law Bulletin,
the Illinois Bar Journal, as well as the London Sunday Telegraph and China Standard.
Academic and Bar Activities
* Guest Lecturer, Animal Law, UCLA School of Law, 2011
* Guest Lecturer, Animal Law, Valparaiso University School of Law, 2010
* Ex-Officio, Animal Law Section, Illinois State Bar Association, 2010-11
*
Inaugural Chair, Animal Law Section, Illinois State Bar Association, 2009-10
* Moderator & Coordinator, 1st Annual Animal Law Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Illinois State Bar
Association, 2009
* Member, ABA-TIPS Animal Law
sub-committee involved in drafting "Recovery for Harm to a Companion Animal Act", 2008-09
* Founding Chair, Animal Law Committee, Illinois State Bar Association, 2008-09
* Coordinating Chair, Select Legal Panel of Emergency Mgmt. Regarding Animals, 2007-08
* Member, Animal Disaster Relief Network
and Select Legal Panel of Emergency Management Regarding Animals, American Bar Association 2006-07
*
Member, ABA-TIPS Animal Law Committee, 2006-07, 2007-08
* Jury Verdicts
Editor, Animal Legal Reports, 2006 - 2009
* Adjunct professor of animal law,
DePaul University College of Law, 2004, 2006; guest lecturer 2007
* Member, Agricultural
Law Section Council, Illinois State Bar Association, 2004 - present
*
Chair, CBA Solo/Small Firm Practitioners Committee, 2005-06
* Vice-chair, CBA Solo/Small Firm Practitioners Committee, 2004-05
*
Secretary, CBA Solo/Small Firm Practitioners Committee, 2003-04
* Founder, Chicago Animal Shelter Alliance. C.A.S.A., a pro bono project of the Animal
Law Committee, was designed to help the city's shelters work together on problems such as pet overpopulation. Ms.
Breyer also moderated the meetings for more than a year.
* Principal founder, Animal Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. Ms. Breyer also served two terms as the committee's inaugural chair,
2002-03, 2003-04.
* Founder, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter, Northwestern University School of Law. Ms. Breyer
also served two terms as inaugural president of the chapter, 1998-99, 1999-00.
Speaking & Other Engagements
* Speaker, Family Pets and the Law, Michigan State University Journal of Animal Law
Symposium, March 22, 2010
* Speaker, Issues in Animal Law, Animal Rights Conference, Lewis University, Feb.
3, 2010
*
Speaker, Animal Law, MentorCLE, July 2009
* Judge, 6th Annual Animal Law Moot Court
Competition, Harvard University Law School, February 6-8, 2009
* Speaker, Rebuilding the Ark: Replevin, Disaster Planning and Other Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina,
Texas State Bar Association, 8th Annual Animal Law Institute, July 18, 2008
* Speaker, Divorce, Protective Orders and Pets, The Anti-Cruelty Society, First Strike: Protecting
People and Pets Conference, April 22, 2008
* Speaker, Hot Topics in Agricultural Law: Vote for Humane Farming and Nobody Gets (as) Hurt, Illinois
State Bar Association, Annual Agricultural Law Conference, Feb. 8, 2008; also Chicago Bar Association, Annual Animal
Law Conference, March 26, 2008
* Judge, 4th Annual
Animal Law Moot Court Competition, Harvard University Law School, February 23-25, 2007
* Speaker, What Exactly Did You Lose and What's it Worth Anyway?, Lewis & Clark Law School,
14th Annual Animal Law Conference, Oct. 14, 2006
* Speaker, Animal Law in Times
of Crisis, Washington State Bar Association, 4th Annual Animal Law Conference, April 21, 2006
* Speaker, Animal Law: The Chicago Dog (Veterinary Malpractice), Chicago Bar Association, Annual
Animal Law Conference, April 6, 2006
* Speaker, "My Client is a Cat..."
(and other ways to completely thwart the development of caselaw you seek...), DuPage County Bar Association, Civil
Law and Practice Committee, October 20, 2005
* Judge, 2nd Annual Animal Law Moot Court Competition, Harvard University Law School, February
25-27, 2005
* Speaker, Beyond Felony Provisions: The Next Generation
of Cruelty Laws, Yale University School of Law, The Future of Animal Law, ALDF Conference, Nov. 6, 2004
* Speaker, the Illinois Paralegal Association Annual Conference, Nov. 2004, Nov. 2002
* Speaker, Animal Law 101 for Legal Professionals, Lewis & Clark Law School, 12th
Annual Animal Law Conference, Oct. 9, 2004
* Coach, 1st Annual Animal Law Moot
Court Competition, Harvard University Law School, Feb. 2004
* Speaker, What
is Animal Law?, University of Illinois Department of Animal Sciences, 5th Annual Humane Education Seminar, April 16,
2003
* Ms. Breyer has also spoken to various advocacy organizations, such as D.AW.G. (Dog
Advisory Work Group, a court advocacy program), breed rescues and student groups, including Northwestern University, Northwestern
University School of Law, Michigan State University Detroit College of Law, DePaul University School of Law-Jones High School
Prep, Kent Law School and the John Marshall School of Law.
* Prior to law school, Ms. Breyer worked in
journalism for more than a decade. She was a newswriter/producer at CNN in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.,
WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., and WPIX-TV in New York. A native of New York, she graduated from Boston University
in 1986, B.S.B.A. cum laude.
Professional Memberships
* Chicago Bar Association
* Illinois State Bar Association
* American Bar Association
Authorship
Vote for Humane Farming and Nobody Gets (as) Hurt, Illinois State Bar Association Agricultural
Law Newsletter, May 2008, Vol. 17, No. 8
Laws & Paws,
a periodic legal informational column for Chicagoland Tails magazine, a bi-monthly magazine for Chicagoland pet owners.
Asset Forfeiture and Animal Cruelty: Making One of the Most Powerful
Tools in the Law Work for the Most Powerless Members of Society, Vol. 6, Animal L., 203 (2000). The article was
the inaugural winner of the Animal Law Journal's student writing competition.
Other Practice Areas
For a list of other litigation/legal services Ms. Breyer offers:
