What Happy the Elephant’s Legal Case Tells Us About the Future of Animal Rights: Professor Angela Fernandez

Friday, June 17, 2022

In article for Slate magazine, published June 17, Justin Marceau, a law professor at the University of Denver, and U of T Law Professor Angela Fernandez, explain an important case for the future of animal rights law:

Léa Brière-Godbout

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Who is eligible for legal protection from discrimination? The role of the protectorate in equality discourses
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Léa Brière-Godbout (she/her) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. She is a Vanier Scholar and 2020 Viscount Bennett Fellow. Her research critically examines judicial and lay discourses about equality and discrimination in the Canadian context. Léa completed her Bachelor of Laws at UQAM and was called to the Quebec Bar in 2014. She served for two years as a judicial law clerk to Justice François Doyon of the Quebec Court of Appeals. Léa completed her Master of Laws at Yale Law School where she worked on a Criminal Justice Reform initiative for the City of New York. In 2018-19, she worked as a judicial law clerk to the Chief Justice of Canada. As a clerk living with a disability, Léa sat on the Equity committee of the Supreme Court. In parallel to her doctoral research, Léa acts as SJD advisor and co-teaches the LL.M seminar at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.


Léa Brière-Godbout (elle) est candidate au doctorat à la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Toronto. Elle est boursière Vanier et était Viscount Bennett Fellow pour l'année 2020. Ses recherches analysent de manière critique le discours judiciaire et public au sujet des notions d'égalité et de discrimination. Léa détient un baccalauréat en droit de l'UQAM et est membre du Barreau depuis 2014. Durant deux ans, elle a occupé le poste d'avocate-recherchiste auprès de l'Honorable François Doyon de la Cour d'appel du Québec. Léa est diplômée du programme de maîtrise en droit de l'Université Yale, où elle a notamment collaboré à une initiative de réforme du droit criminel de la ville de New York. En 2018-19, Léa a travaillé comme avocate-recherchiste auprès du Juge en chef du Canada. En tant qu'avocate vivant avec un handicap, Léa a siégé sur le comité d'Équité de la Cour Suprême. En parallèle de ses études doctorales, Léa agit comme conseillère académique et co-enseigne le séminaire de maîtrise de la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Toronto. 

Education
LL.M, Yale Law School (2017)
LL.B (with distinction), UQAM (2013)
D.E.C (social work), Vieux-Montréal CEGEP (2010)
Awards and Distinctions
Viscount Bennett Fellowship, Canadian Bar Association (2020)
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, SSHR (2018-)
Doctoral Research Fellowship, FRQSC (2017)
Masters Research Fellowship, FRQSC (2016)
Dickson Medal, American College of Trial Lawyers (2012)
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Professional Affiliations
Course instructor, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, 2020-
SJD advisor, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, 2018-
Member of the Canadian Bar Association, 2019-
Senior Editor, Journal of Law and Equality, 2017-18
Member of the Quebec Bar, 2014-
Selected Publications

Léa Brière-Godbout & Marie-Andrée Plante, “Religious challenges to anti-discrimination law: the mobilisation of the “minority label”, (2020) 66: 2 McGill LJ 377 (forthcoming).

Research Interests
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Criminal Law 
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Critical Legal Theory
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
Legal History
Legal Theory
Supervisor
Committee Members

Inaugural Animal Law Fundamentals presentation by U of T Law Professor Angela Fernandez

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Animal Law Fundamentals, a free resource from the Brooks Institute, is a documentary-style series of video presentations and scholarly papers on the fundamentals of animal law by North America’s notable animal law scholars. The goal of this series is to make the fundamentals of animal law accessible to the public from premier subject matter experts.

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