Jenni James is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law, where she served as co-chair of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) chapter. Jenni’s path to law school began on the beaches of California’s Central Coast, where she spent nearly a decade rescuing stranded seals, sea lions, and otters as a volunteer with the Marine Mammal Center. Funding from her school’s Public Interest Fellowship program allowed Jenni to join ALDF’s civil Litigation Program as a litigation fellow in 2012. Her fellowship focused on marine mammal issues and one of her earliest projects involved drafting the petition that convinced the National Marine Fisheries Service to add Lolita, the orca held at the Miami Seaquarium, to the endangered species list. When her fellowship ended, Jenni became counsel to People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals, working as part of the PETA Foundation’s Captive Animal Law Enforcement Division. She is now head of PETA’s newly formed Legal Innovations Team, generating strategic impact litigation.