Jim Karani is a director at Lawyers for Animal Protection in Africa (LAPA), a nonprofit engaging in research and advocacy in animal law issues in Africa. Before joining LAPA, he headed the legal team at WildlifeDirect Kenya, engaging in the “Hands Off Our Elephants Campaign,” leading environmental public interest litigation and following up on major ivory trafficking court cases in Kenya. He also managed the “Eyes in the Courtroom” program in partnership with Kenya’s Judiciary to monitor and analyze the effectiveness of law enforcement in handling wildlife crime. Data from this program was used to guide reforms in law and enforcement that have significantly strengthened Kenya’s response to wildlife crime. He also was directly involved in the training of over 1,000 police officers, investigators, prosecutors and judicial officers on best practices of handling wildlife crime and development of legal texts, guides, toolkits and reference materials for law enforcement in use in various countries in Africa. Jim is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Criminal Justice at John Jay CUNY.