12:55 Welcome and Introductions
1:00 Introduction to Assistance Animal Law
Elizabeth "Brooks" Savage, NC Office of State Budget & Management, Raleigh
This session provides a foundational understanding of assistance animal law, including types of assistance animals and an overview of applicable state and federal laws that govern the rights of persons with disabilities when working with assistance animals. It also addresses commonly asked questions and misconceptions of assistance animals, particularly regarding service and emotional support animals.
1:30 Break
1:40 Assistance Animal Law Panel
Elizabeth Myerholtz, Disability Rights North Carolina, Raleigh
Lisa Nesbitt, Disability Rights North Carolina, Raleigh
Elizabeth "Brooks" Savage, NC Office of State Budget & Management, Raleigh (Moderator)
Alexandra Southerland, Disability Rights North Carolina, Raleigh
Lena Welch, Disability Rights North Carolina, Raleigh
The legal framework that governs and regulates assistance animals is extremely complex. This session convenes a panel of disability rights advocates and experts to discuss the nuances of state and federal laws that protect assistance animal teams, while also providing substantive updates on interpretation and administrative guidance. Additionally, panelist discussion includes the practical consequences that such laws have on assistance animal teams in various contexts, such as housing, travel, education and work.
3:10 Break
3:20 Assistance Animals in the Legal Profession†
Elizabeth "Brooks" Savage, NC Office of State Budget & Management, Raleigh
The use of assistance animals in the legal profession is on the rise. This session explores opportunities for animal-assisted interventions, how assistance animals can support lawyer and client well-being, and best practices to accommodate and welcome assistance animal teams.
4:20 Adjourn
† Indicates portion providing Substance Abuse/Mental Health credit
Thank you for joining us for Assistance Animal Law.
Gain a foundational understanding of assistance animal law and applicable laws in legal workplaces, including the impact of federal and state-specific regulations of assistance animals on housing, travel, education, and workplace considerations for attorneys and their clients.
Elizabeth Myerholtz is an attorney at Disability Rights North Carolina in Washington, D.C. She joined DRNC in August 2018.
Elizabeth is from Ohio and graduated from Miami University with bachelor's degrees in psychology and English literature. She worked as a direct support professional for adults with autism before moving to Washington to attend law school at American University Washington College of Law.
While in law school, Myerholtz worked at the San Diego public defender's office – mental health unit, the American University's Disability Rights Law Clinic, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Click here for more information about Elizabeth.
Lisa Nesbitt is Supervising Attorney at Disability Rights North Carolina in Raleigh. She joined DRNC in 2012 and was promoted in 2020 to Supervising Attorney for the Community Inclusion Team.
In addition to overseeing that team, Lisa helps children and adults obtain necessary medical services, including mental health and developmental disabilities services.
Lisa earned her bachelor's degree from Cook College at Rutgers University and her J.D. from George Washington University. She practiced law with several private firms in Washington and New Jersey before taking time off to raise three children.
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Elizabeth "Brooks" Savage is Assistant General Counsel in the Disaster Recovery Division of the at NC Office of State Budget & Management in Raleigh.
Prior to working for the state, Brooks was an Associate Attorney at the Beer Law Center, a division of Matheson & Associates PLLC, where she represented clients in the alcoholic beverage industry with a range of business, intellectual property, and administrative law matters. She also worked with the Disaster Relief Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc., as a W. C. Dawson Fellow and Staff Attorney, to provide vital disaster recovery legal services to North Carolinians who have suffered deep poverty, food insecurity, and diminished economic opportunity due to systematic inequality exacerbated by recurring natural disasters.
Brooks is the Co-Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Young Lawyers Division Diversity & Inclusion. She is an Open Door Fellowship Committee Member and as program volunteer for NC Lawyers for Entrepreneurs Assistance (NC LEAP) at the North Carolina Bar Foundation (NCBF). She is a Pro Bono Committee Member with the Wake County Bar Association/Tenth Judicial District focusing on Civil Rights and Social Action, as well as a YLD Disaster Legal Services Program Member with the American Bar Association helping with Disaster and Humanitarian Relief.
Brooks earned her B.S. in Exercise Physiology from East Carolina University, Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Policy and Management, Rural Health, Community Organizing, Environmental Health, Epidemiology from Campbell University and her J.D. in Health Law & Policy, Data & Privacy Protection, Human Rights, Disability Rights, Service Animal Law from Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law.
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Alexandra Southerland is an attorney with Disability Rights North Carolina in Raleigh. She joined DRNC in January 2023 as a housing attorney.
Alexandra's work focuses on helping people with disabilities to maintain housing by advocating against housing discrimination and improving equal access to housing.
Alexandra began working as a staff attorney at Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. in 2018. She later served as a supervising attorney from 2021 – 2022.
Alexandra earned her bachelor's degree from Campbell University and her J.D. from Campbell University School of Law.
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Lena Welch is an attorney with Disability Rights North Carolina in Raleigh. She focuses on employment rights as a member of the community access team. She joined DRNC in August 2020 as a Kennedy Fellow on the education team.
Lena earned bachelor's degrees in journalism and economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. While in law school, she represented clients in the Child Advocacy and Health and Disability Law Clinics. She worked on class action lawsuits as a law clerk at Disability Rights Advocates in the summer of 2019 and interned for the summer of 2018 at the Disability Law Center of Virginia.
Click here for more information about Lena.
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