LEAP Welcomes New Litigation Fellow Dane Underwood

The Climate Change & Animal Agriculture Litigation Initiative (CCAALI) welcomes Dane Underwood as a new litigation fellow. Working within the Law, Environment & Animals Program (LEAP) at Yale Law School, CCAALI focuses on the intersection of climate change and the food system, evaluating the likelihood and impact of litigation in U.S. courts relating to animal agriculture’s climate impacts.

“We’re thrilled that Dane is joining our team,” said Daina Bray, LEAP Legal Director and CCAALI Project Manager. “Dane brings highly relevant environmental and public interest litigation experience, and a commitment to using the law to assist the vulnerable.”

Underwood is a Yale University alum with a dual bachelor’s degree in literature and history. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Underwood clerked for Judge Anne R. Traum of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada and completed a legal fellowship in human rights litigation with the Center for Justice and Accountability. He also worked as a staff attorney with the Harvard Law School Consumer Protection Clinic, representing indigent clients in debt collection and foreclosure matters. 

As a law student, Underwood served as president of Harvard Law School’s Advocates for Human Rights and worked with both the Harvard Human Rights Journal and the Harvard Environmental Law Review. He completed summer clerkships with Conservation Law Foundation and the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Upon completing his fellowship with LEAP, Underwood will serve as a clerk for Judge Richard E.N. Federico of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

“The animal agriculture industry’s climate impact is enormous, growing, and often overlooked,” LEAP Executive Director Viveca Morris said. “We are so delighted to have Dane joining our team and to have his talent focused on addressing this pressing problem.” 

LEAP Faculty Director and Joseph M. Field ’55 Professor of Law Doug Kysar added: “Through his legal work and study to date, Dane has focused on using the law to address the pressing environmental, climate, and human rights problems of our time. We’re looking forward to his time with our program, and to all the good legal work he’ll go on to do.”