Elizabeth Stein

Elizabeth Stein is the Nonhuman Rights Project’s Litigation Director. In that role, she directs litigation strategy and provides support for NhRP attorneys across all phases of litigation. Elizabeth is the co-author of many law review articles on the topic of animal rights and represents the NhRP at events and in the media. She is perhaps best known as the NhRP attorney who first represented the elephant Happy, whose case marked the first time the highest court of any U.S. state heard a habeas corpus action on behalf of a nonhuman animal.

Elizabeth began her legal career as in-house counsel for a major New York financial institution. She later started her own practice which focused exclusively on issues pertaining to animal rights, welfare, legislation, and advocacy. Elizabeth holds a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law and a B.S. in German from the State University of New York at Albany where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude.