Professor David Favre, who has been a faculty member at MSU Law since 1976, is retiring this semester.
The faculty at Michigan State University’s College of Law are world-class, with an unwavering passion for leading the future of law. What really sets them apart is their drive to make positive change in the world through policymaking, advocacy, teaching, research publications and media commentary.
David Favre, professor of law and the Nancy Heathcote Professor of Property and Animal Law, is a shining example of this ethos at MSU Law. Favre, who has been a faculty member since 1976, is retiring this semester.
An internationally renowned scholar, Favre has had a prolific career in the field of animal law. His expertise spans animal rights, animal cruelty, wildlife law, the property status of animals and international control of trade in endangered species.
He has published several books, including three editions of “Animal Law: Welfare, Interest, and Rights,” “Respecting Animals” (2018), “The Future of Animal Law” (2021), and “International Trade in Endangered Species” (1989). He has delivered keynote addresses and spoken at dozens of national and international conferences and events, while also offering leadership as a board member for several animal law organizations.
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The start of Favre’s legacy
Having gone through law school during the 1970s, Favre says he was a student in the middle of the Earth movement and, as such, got his start by practicing environmental law.
“I felt like I could help save the world,” he recalled. “I decided to become a law professor because I wanted to do something in the environmental field.”
Favre opened his own law firm with a colleague and found that he had to take cases that were beyond his ideal environmental scope. This led him to pivot to teaching and writing, where he felt he could make a stronger impact. He promptly began teaching a course on environmental law at the Detroit College of Law in 1976.
“At the time, animal law didn’t even exist yet,” he explained. “In my environmental law course, I taught a wildlife chapter. I then wrote a law review on wildlife law, which got me an invitation to a conference where people interested in animal law came together for the first time.
“That was an amazing point in my life,” he continued. “It was so exciting to be in a room with people who cared about the same things that you care about. I met lifelong friends there and we all felt like we could do more if we worked together.”
That moment was the start of Favre’s legacy in animal law. He became a founding board member for the nonprofit organization that is known today as the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
Notably, he served as treasurer of the ALDF board for 20 years, from 1982 to 2002, before serving as president from 2003-2006, helping the organization to become the force that it is today for protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system.
“The Animal Legal Defense Fund is now a $15 million a year organization—I’m very proud of my role in the beginning.”
—————
Leading the Detroit College of Law’s move to MSU
Favre says his time as a founding and active board member with the ALDF gave him invaluable leadership experience, which allowed him to succeed in the role of interim dean at the Detroit College of Law from 1993 to 1996. Upon stepping into this role, Favre was tasked with leading the college during a critical time of transition.
“The American Bar Association was against freestanding law schools, which the Detroit College of Law was,” Favre explained. “So, it was a very important time for the college as we were trying to decide what the next step would be.
“The deal was made to affiliate with MSU and move to East Lansing,” he continued. “I played an important role in shepherding that process. I’ve seen two different kinds of law schools and two different constructs, and it’s been a pleasant travel.”
He also played a pivotal role in overseeing the construction of the MSU Law building on campus, which was completed in 1997.
“One of my biggest achievements is how well things went with the new building,” he recalled. “It was rated as one of the best law buildings in the country at the time.”
Favre went on to serve as dean of the college from 1999-2000.
—————
Sharing knowledge to advance animal law
Another significant milestone in Favre’s career has been the creation of the Animal Legal and Historical Center. With grant funding from the ALDF and MSU, the Center has helped solidify the College of Law as a national leader in the field of animal law since its launch in 2002.
As the Center’s founder and editor-in-chief, Favre’s vision has been to provide fully comprehensive materials on animal law to the public—which is typically only available through subscription services. He said the center’s website typically sees more than 7,000 visitors per day and has become a significant and reliable resource for professionals in animal law.
“The main idea was to serve three audiences,” he explained. “First, lawyers who needed access to statute language and cases. Second, anyone who is educated in the field and needs background, including essays that the Center publishes explaining legal issues. Third, the press. They can find our website and information and see what laws and statutes are in effect in all 50 states.”
Beyond being an information hub, the Center has also hosted an annual one-day conference since 2023 as a platform for experts, professionals and students to collaborate. Each fall, the conference brings awareness to a specific topic or issue in animal rights, like last year’s focus on the legal status of companion animals.
Favre has also served as the faculty advisor for the college’s Animal and Natural Resource Law Review since its inception in 2003. The ANRLR is one of three student-run journals which publishes an annual volume and hosts its annual symposium each spring with expert panelists and guest speakers. This year’s event is taking place today and spotlights deregulation of the energy industry in the U.S.
“The Law Review allows students to develop skills in writing and also the management of an organization,” he said. “I’ve seen past editors of the Law Review doing great things out in the world for animal law… participating is a very good resume enhancer.”
And working with students – whether that’s been through the ANRLR or in the classroom – is the aspect of his work that Favre says he’ll miss the most as he closes this significant chapter at MSU.
“The enthusiasm of the young students, those who really want to figure things out and ask really cool questions, that’s what I’ll miss the most,” he said. “Working with first-year students is really special because they don’t really know what the profession entails. I get to help give them property law context and expose them to thinking like a lawyer.”
—————
Progress for the animal rights movement—and passing the torch
Favre’s meaningful scholarship and leadership has been recognized and honored throughout his career. In 2010, he received the Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law award from the American Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee. In 2013, he became the first recipient to earn the Lifetime Leadership in Animal Law award from the ALDF. And in 2017 he received the Excellence in Animal Law award from the Association of American Law Schools Animal Law Section.
Most recently, Favre was recognized at the 33rd National Animal Law Conference in October 2025 with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his groundbreaking work in animal law, extraordinary scholarship and long-
standing leadership on the boards of animal law organizations.
“There were many decades where the work I and my colleagues were doing for animal law would be laughed at or misunderstood,” he explained. “To earn these achievements means what I’ve been doing is being recognized, so it’s very meaningful, particularly the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Receiving this award also notes a transformation for who I am and how I see myself,” he reflected. “I’ve been around a while and am now surrounded by many eager upstarts. When we started the animal rights movement, there were 14 of us in a room together. [Looking at where we are today], there were more than 400 people at the conference in October. It’s global now and serious people are being paid to work. It’s really exciting.”
As for what’s next, Favre shared how he’s ready to give back and continue helping the next wave of lawyers and passionate people who want to advance animal rights.
“I’m ready to take more of a counselor position to talk about what it means to be part of the animal rights movement, especially since I’ve done most of the parts myself,” he said. “I’m seeking to provide insights and enthusiasm for younger people.”
David Favre, professor of law and the Nancy Heathcote Professor of Property and Animal Law, is a shining example of this ethos at MSU Law. Favre, who has been a faculty member since 1976, is retiring this semester.
An internationally renowned scholar, Favre has had a prolific career in the field of animal law. His expertise spans animal rights, animal cruelty, wildlife law, the property status of animals and international control of trade in endangered species.
He has published several books, including three editions of “Animal Law: Welfare, Interest, and Rights,” “Respecting Animals” (2018), “The Future of Animal Law” (2021), and “International Trade in Endangered Species” (1989). He has delivered keynote addresses and spoken at dozens of national and international conferences and events, while also offering leadership as a board member for several animal law organizations.
—————
The start of Favre’s legacy
Having gone through law school during the 1970s, Favre says he was a student in the middle of the Earth movement and, as such, got his start by practicing environmental law.
“I felt like I could help save the world,” he recalled. “I decided to become a law professor because I wanted to do something in the environmental field.”
Favre opened his own law firm with a colleague and found that he had to take cases that were beyond his ideal environmental scope. This led him to pivot to teaching and writing, where he felt he could make a stronger impact. He promptly began teaching a course on environmental law at the Detroit College of Law in 1976.
“At the time, animal law didn’t even exist yet,” he explained. “In my environmental law course, I taught a wildlife chapter. I then wrote a law review on wildlife law, which got me an invitation to a conference where people interested in animal law came together for the first time.
“That was an amazing point in my life,” he continued. “It was so exciting to be in a room with people who cared about the same things that you care about. I met lifelong friends there and we all felt like we could do more if we worked together.”
That moment was the start of Favre’s legacy in animal law. He became a founding board member for the nonprofit organization that is known today as the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
Notably, he served as treasurer of the ALDF board for 20 years, from 1982 to 2002, before serving as president from 2003-2006, helping the organization to become the force that it is today for protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system.
“The Animal Legal Defense Fund is now a $15 million a year organization—I’m very proud of my role in the beginning.”
—————
Leading the Detroit College of Law’s move to MSU
Favre says his time as a founding and active board member with the ALDF gave him invaluable leadership experience, which allowed him to succeed in the role of interim dean at the Detroit College of Law from 1993 to 1996. Upon stepping into this role, Favre was tasked with leading the college during a critical time of transition.
“The American Bar Association was against freestanding law schools, which the Detroit College of Law was,” Favre explained. “So, it was a very important time for the college as we were trying to decide what the next step would be.
“The deal was made to affiliate with MSU and move to East Lansing,” he continued. “I played an important role in shepherding that process. I’ve seen two different kinds of law schools and two different constructs, and it’s been a pleasant travel.”
He also played a pivotal role in overseeing the construction of the MSU Law building on campus, which was completed in 1997.
“One of my biggest achievements is how well things went with the new building,” he recalled. “It was rated as one of the best law buildings in the country at the time.”
Favre went on to serve as dean of the college from 1999-2000.
—————
Sharing knowledge to advance animal law
Another significant milestone in Favre’s career has been the creation of the Animal Legal and Historical Center. With grant funding from the ALDF and MSU, the Center has helped solidify the College of Law as a national leader in the field of animal law since its launch in 2002.
As the Center’s founder and editor-in-chief, Favre’s vision has been to provide fully comprehensive materials on animal law to the public—which is typically only available through subscription services. He said the center’s website typically sees more than 7,000 visitors per day and has become a significant and reliable resource for professionals in animal law.
“The main idea was to serve three audiences,” he explained. “First, lawyers who needed access to statute language and cases. Second, anyone who is educated in the field and needs background, including essays that the Center publishes explaining legal issues. Third, the press. They can find our website and information and see what laws and statutes are in effect in all 50 states.”
Beyond being an information hub, the Center has also hosted an annual one-day conference since 2023 as a platform for experts, professionals and students to collaborate. Each fall, the conference brings awareness to a specific topic or issue in animal rights, like last year’s focus on the legal status of companion animals.
Favre has also served as the faculty advisor for the college’s Animal and Natural Resource Law Review since its inception in 2003. The ANRLR is one of three student-run journals which publishes an annual volume and hosts its annual symposium each spring with expert panelists and guest speakers. This year’s event is taking place today and spotlights deregulation of the energy industry in the U.S.
“The Law Review allows students to develop skills in writing and also the management of an organization,” he said. “I’ve seen past editors of the Law Review doing great things out in the world for animal law… participating is a very good resume enhancer.”
And working with students – whether that’s been through the ANRLR or in the classroom – is the aspect of his work that Favre says he’ll miss the most as he closes this significant chapter at MSU.
“The enthusiasm of the young students, those who really want to figure things out and ask really cool questions, that’s what I’ll miss the most,” he said. “Working with first-year students is really special because they don’t really know what the profession entails. I get to help give them property law context and expose them to thinking like a lawyer.”
—————
Progress for the animal rights movement—and passing the torch
Favre’s meaningful scholarship and leadership has been recognized and honored throughout his career. In 2010, he received the Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law award from the American Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee. In 2013, he became the first recipient to earn the Lifetime Leadership in Animal Law award from the ALDF. And in 2017 he received the Excellence in Animal Law award from the Association of American Law Schools Animal Law Section.
Most recently, Favre was recognized at the 33rd National Animal Law Conference in October 2025 with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his groundbreaking work in animal law, extraordinary scholarship and long-
standing leadership on the boards of animal law organizations.
“There were many decades where the work I and my colleagues were doing for animal law would be laughed at or misunderstood,” he explained. “To earn these achievements means what I’ve been doing is being recognized, so it’s very meaningful, particularly the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Receiving this award also notes a transformation for who I am and how I see myself,” he reflected. “I’ve been around a while and am now surrounded by many eager upstarts. When we started the animal rights movement, there were 14 of us in a room together. [Looking at where we are today], there were more than 400 people at the conference in October. It’s global now and serious people are being paid to work. It’s really exciting.”
As for what’s next, Favre shared how he’s ready to give back and continue helping the next wave of lawyers and passionate people who want to advance animal rights.
“I’m ready to take more of a counselor position to talk about what it means to be part of the animal rights movement, especially since I’ve done most of the parts myself,” he said. “I’m seeking to provide insights and enthusiasm for younger people.”
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