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, as well as the London Sunday Telegraph and China
Standard.
Academic and Bar Activities
* Founding Chair, Animal Law Committee, Illinois State Bar
Association, anticipated 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, 2006-07
* Adjunct professor of animal law, DePaul University College
of Law, 2004, 2006; guest speaker 2007
* Member, Agricultural Law Section Council, Illinois
State Bar Association, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08
* 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, Hot Topics in Agricultural Law: Vote for Humane Farming and Nobody Gets
(as) Hurt, Illinois State Bar Association, Feb. 8, 2008
* Judge, 4th Annual Animal Law Moot Court Competition, Harvard University
Law School, February 23-25, 2007
* Speaker, 14th Annual Animal Law Conference, Lewis & Clark Law School,
Oct. 2006
* Speaker, Annual Animal Law Conference, Washington State Bar Association, April
2006
* Speaker, Annual Animal Law Conference, Chicago Bar Association, April
2006
* Judge, 2nd Annual Animal Law Moot
Court Competition, Harvard University Law School, February 25-27, 2005
* Speaker, The Future of Animal Law, Yale University School of Law, Nov., 2004
* Speaker, the Illinois Paralegal Association Annual Conference, Nov. 2004,
Nov. 2002
* Speaker, 12th Annual Animal Law Conference, Lewis & Clark Law School,
Oct. 2004
* Coach, 1st Annual Animal Law Moot Court Competition, Harvard University Law
School, Feb. 2004
* Speaker, 5th Annual Humane Education Seminar, the University of Illinois Dept.
of Animal Sciences, April 2003
* Ms. Breyer has also spoken to various county bar associations, such as the DuPage County Bar Association Civil Law
and Practice Committee, advocacy organizations, such as D.AW.G. (Dog Advisory Work Group, a court advocacy program), and numerous
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
* American Association for Justice
Authorship
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:
