Animal Law Trailblazers: Naaman Kranz and Mike Rosalky

Published on 15 June 2023 by Naaman Kranz and Mike Rosalky The Australian Pro Bono Centre’s Laura Toren sat down with Naaman Kranz and Mike Rosalky, joint Principal Lawyers at the Animal Law Institute and founders of Australia’s first specialised Animal Law firm, to learn more about their pro bono work in this bourgeoning area.

Animal Law is an umbrella term that covers many different areas of law. It describes the way that the law regulates the treatment of animals through dedicated legislation, like anti-cruelty legislation, domestic animal legislation and live animal export legislation, but it also describes other areas of law where animals can become involved.

At our firm, K & R Animal Law, we have taken on matters that encompass almost every area of the law, other than perhaps family law. Largely, these matters fall within state and territory jurisdictions, so we’ve had to get across various areas of law in different states and territories. When we look at taking on a matter at K & R, we ask ourselves – “Is this going to have a beneficial outcome for animals?”. That’s what really defines the scope of our work.

Naaman is a passionate promoter of access to justice for human and non-human animals. He is dedicated to using the law to help animals, ethical businesses, and people who defend and care for animals.

Naaman was admitted as a lawyer in 2011 and has experience working as a Special Counsel for a private law firm in Canberra and as a Senior Lawyer for the Federal Government. Naaman has provided pro bono legal services at various community legal centres, including the Animal Defenders Office, where he grew passionate about using the law to defend animals. Naaman has presented on animal law topics at various forums across Australia and taught an animal law subject as a guest lecturer at the University of New South Wales. In 2019, Naaman and Mike Rosalky founded a private law firm dedicated to helping animals and their human defenders, and in 2022, Naaman and Mike became joint principal lawyers at the Animal Law Institute.
Mike has been an animal advocate since 2006 after learning how animals are legally and routinely subjected to abhorrent cruelty in the production of animal products, experimentation, intensive breeding, and entertainment throughout Australia.

Mike was admitted as a lawyer in 2013 and has worked as a senior lawyer for several Federal Government agencies, in the private sector, and as a volunteer with the Animal Defenders Office. He has also given presentations in myriad public forums on laws affecting animals and animal activists, contributed to government submissions on laws affecting animals and met with politicians to advocate for law reform to better protect animals. In 2019, Mike and Naaman Kranz founded a private law firm dedicated to helping animals and their human defenders, and in 2022, Mike and Naaman became joint principal lawyers at the Animal Law Institute.

Mike has provided many hours of pro bono legal services to various clients, and he volunteers in the disability sector in a nonlegal role.Amy Burton is the Managing Lawyer of Everyday Justice. Prior to joining the team, she was a Senior Associate at Salvos Legal Humanitarian, where she provided pro bono legal representation to vulnerable clients in a range of practice areas. In 2017, Amy was awarded ‘Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year’ at the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards. In 2018, she was awarded a John Monash Scholarship, which gave her the opportunity to undertake her Masters of Law at Georgetown University in Washington DC, where she focused on researching practical strategies to improve access to justice for the ‘missing middle’.