People

Kelsey Eberly is an attorney, writer, and commentator whose work focuses on animal and constitutional law. Prior to joining HLS as a Legislative Policy Fellow, Kelsey spent over seven years working with the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s litigation team, most recently as a Senior Staff Attorney. Kelsey is one of the country’s leading experts on so-called Agricultural Gag (“Ag-Gag”) laws—state laws that criminalize or punish whistleblowing and reporting on industrial farms and slaughterhouses. She has played a key role in the ongoing litigation campaign challenging such laws for violating the First Amendment. Kelsey is also a leading voice and litigator on the “humane-washing” of animal products—the pervasive use of misleading marketing and advertising to conceal products’ inhumane origins. Her work in this sphere has resulted in several companies changing their marketing and animal welfare practices.

Kelsey earned a J.D. from UCLA School of Law and a B.A. from Middlebury College. Before becoming a lawyer, she worked as a news editor in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kelsey is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer at law schools and legal events. Her scholarship has been published in the Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law, and her commentary has appeared in numerous international and national news outlets including NBC Nightly News, Channel 4 (UK), the Guardian, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.