Firm Background and Mission Statement

Katherine Meyer and Eric Glitzenstein worked together at the Public Citizen Litigation Group, where they had an opportunity to learn from some of the best litigators who have ever practiced public interest law. In 1993, they decided to start their own public interest law firm focusing on wildlife and environmental protection, along with other issues of public import. They embarked on this initiative with Leslie Mink (current Director of Operations), who has been indispensable to the firm from the beginning. Their collective vision was to use the law creatively to protect wildlife, animals in captivity, and the environment, as well as to continue aggressive use of the open-government laws and other statutes intended to serve the public interest. In 1996 they were joined by Howard Crystal, who became a name partner in 2005. Over the years, many talented and dedicated lawyers have been part of the firm – and many of our former attorneys have gone on to impressive careers in public interest law, including Kim DelFino, now Legal Director for Defenders of Wildlife's California office; Dan Vice, senior staff lawyer for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence; Amy Atwood, Director of the Endangered Species program for the Center of Biological Diversity; Jonathan Lovvorn, Vice-President and Chief Counsel For Animal Protection Litigation, at the Humane Society of the United States; Kimberly Ockene, senior attorney, at the Humane Society of the United States; Tanya Sanerib, staff attorney at the Crag Law Center in Portland, Oregon; Erin Tobin, senior fellow for Earthjustice in Oakland, California; Delcianna Winders, Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals; and Joshua Stebbins, senior attorney at the Sierra Club in Washington, DC.

We are fortunate to have worked with these and many other great colleagues over the years, both inside and outside the firm, while sustaining a true public interest law practice. We have represented a host of national, regional, and grassroots environmental and animal protection groups, as well as public health organizations, activists, authors, historians, and journalists. We never charge market rates for attorneys with equivalent experience in federal litigation but, rather, either charge greatly reduced public interest rates, or work on a statutory attorneys' fees basis. We strive to do work that helps make the world a better place, while staying true to our values and ideals, doing work of the highest caliber on behalf of our clients, and also maintaining a collegial, enjoyable work environment. We have won many important legal victories, and even when we do not prevail, we want our clients to believe that they and the important causes they advocate were represented as effectively and vigorously as possible.