south asian bar association of washington, d.c. quarterly …sabadc.org/resources/documents/summer...

S U M M E R 2 0 1 4

South Asian Bar Association of Washington, D.C. Quarterly Newsletter

Upcoming Events

India & Pakistan Independence Day Picnic Celebration

Saturday, August 16, 2014 1:00 p.m.—6:00 p.m.

Quincy Park, 1021 N. Quincy St, Arlington, VA

(Metro, Ballston or Virginia Square on the Orange Line)

Save the Date Public Interest Fellowship Benefit Gala

Saturday, December 6, 2014 8:00 p.m. — 12:00 a.m.

District Architecture Center | 421 7th Street, NW,

Washington, D.C. 20004 Open bar and heavy hors d’oeuvres

Attire: Semi-formal or Ethnic

It has been a busy summer for SABA-DC! We have had an outing to a Nationals game, done immi-gration pro bono work, discussed pathways to in-house careers, enjoyed networking happy hours, at-tended the Annual South Asian Bar Association of North America Convention in Chicago, and much more. Continue reading to catch-up with us and learn more about upcoming events!

April Dinner SeriesApril Dinner SeriesApril Dinner Series———Women’s Women’s Women’s Mentoring CircleMentoring CircleMentoring Circle

SABA-DC QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2014

On April 14 SABA-DC’s Women’s Mentoring Circle had a net-working dinner. The dinner provided an opportunity for an open discussion of various issues affecting South Asian women lawyers today, from work life balance to finding mentors to managing stress.

May Dinner Series May Dinner Series May Dinner Series --- Conversation with Professor SidhuConversation with Professor SidhuConversation with Professor Sidhu On May 29 SABA-DC members had a conversation with Professor Dave Sidhu over dinner. Professor Sidhu is an expert in the areas of constitutional law and national security, and shared his views on being a professor with SABA-DC members. He answered questions from interested SABA-DC members on how to start down the path of pursuing legal academia as an adjunct professor and as a career.

June Dinner Series June Dinner Series June Dinner Series --- Starting & Growing a Solo Practice Starting & Growing a Solo Practice Starting & Growing a Solo Practice In June, SABA-DC’s dinner series focused on starting a solo practice and strategies for growing a practice. The discussion was led by Hassan M. Ahmad, the founder and principal of the HMA Law Firm, which fo-cuses in the areas of immigration, criminal defense and civil litigation, and Ashok Batra, founder and prin-cipal of Ashok Batra, PC, which focuses on family law. The speakers discussed the nuts and bolts of how to start and grow a solo practice.

IP Licensing Strategies: Technology for Corporations, Univer-IP Licensing Strategies: Technology for Corporations, Univer-IP Licensing Strategies: Technology for Corporations, Univer-sities and Startupssities and Startupssities and Startups


The new SABA-DC IP Law Section held its Spring event on April 30th at the law offices of Bookoff McAn-drews, PLLC. Dinesh Melwani, a partner at the firm, and Ami Gadhia, Portfolio Director of Technology Li-censing at Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer, led an engaging discussion on Intellectual Property Licensing Strategies. The presentation, focusing on technology transfer considerations for corporations, universities, and startups, provided an overview of the technology transfer function between academia and industry, and the col-laborative relationship technology transfer fosters between universities, corporations, and startups. The speak-ers discussed contentious issues (including prosecution of patents, improvements based on collaboration, pub-lication, and financial terms), the reasons these issues are typically contentious, and potential solutions for bridging the gap and closing the licensing deal.

Spring Networking Happy HourSpring Networking Happy HourSpring Networking Happy Hour On Thursday, May 15, 2014, SABA-DC held its Spring Networking Reception at Catch 15 Restaurant and Lounge. Despite the brief thunderstorm that evening, more than 40 old and new members and friends of SABA-DC attended. The attorneys, law students, and other professionals enjoyed an evening of networking and mingling while sampling the amazing food and specialty drinks served by Catch 15.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration


On May 12, 2014, SABA-DC co-sponsored Hogan Lovells’ celebration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. The celebration included a screening of the new ABC docu-mentary “Witness: The Legacy of Heart Moun-tain,” which profiled the Japanese-American internees who were confined at Heart Moun-tain during World War II. The film was fol-lowed by a panel discussion exploring how the internment and other experiences have shaped the Asian-Pacific American community's views on U.S. Constitutional Law, as well as some of the challenges facing the Asian-Pacific American Community today.

Pro Bono ClinicPro Bono ClinicPro Bono Clinic

On June 7, SABA-DC partnered with the DC Bar to provide pro bono assistance to members of the community at the DC Bar Pro Bono Program Immigration Legal Advice and Refer-ral Clinic. A total of 30 clients speaking vari-ous languages were helped during the clinic. Please consider joining SABA-DC in its next pro bono activity.


SABASABASABA---DC Networking Fundraiser with NetSAP and AIF DC Networking Fundraiser with NetSAP and AIF DC Networking Fundraiser with NetSAP and AIF

SABA-DC, the Network of South Asian Professionals, Washington, DC (NetSAP), and the American Indian Foundation, Washington, DC Chapter (AIF) held their annual joint summer networking fundrais-ing happy hour on July 17, 2014 at Lost Society. It was a fun evening of catching up with old friends and making new ones. SABA-DC will use funds raised through the event for its annual Public Interest Fellowship Program.

SABA Outing to the Nationals GameSABA Outing to the Nationals GameSABA Outing to the Nationals Game SABA-DC members enjoyed amazing spring weather at National's Park on Saturday, May 31. Members networked and watched the Nationals dominate the Texas National and claim a 10-2 win.

2014 Annual South Asian Bar Association of North America Convention in Chicago2014 Annual South Asian Bar Association of North America Convention in Chicago2014 Annual South Asian Bar Association of North America Convention in Chicago


The South Asian Bar Association of North America held its 11th annual convention in Chicago this past June. The convention brought together members from 26 chapters from across the United States and Canada to discuss legal issues that are important to the Indian American and larger South Asian community. The two days of panelists addressed a variety of topics, including The Affordable Care Act in 2014, Immigration Reform, Tax Planning and Compliance Issues for International Executives, and the Annual Supreme Court Review. Saturday’s Gala featured keynote speaker Judge Vince Chhabria, who was confirmed in March 2014 to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The Gala also honored Deepa Iyer, for-

mer Executive Director of South Asian American Leading Together (SAALT), with the 2014 Pioneer Award.


I finished my LLB (Bachelors in Law) from the University of London in 2008. I am a member of the Honorable Society of The Inner Temple, London and was called to the Bar by the same as a Barrister in October 2009. I enrolled as a LLM candidate at George Washington University Law School in August 2013. I am a member of the Human Rights Com-mission in Pakistan and went on to work for Naya Jeevan and Shine Humanity (CDRS) as Manager Women’s Rights and International Collaborations.

KARAMAH provides pro bono le-gal assistance to victims of abuse in fami-ly law matters, and I will be working with the family law attorney on briefs, intakes, and case management. I will also be working with the civil rights attorney, Mr. Awais Khaleel, who is launching a new initiative this spring to advance the voices of Muslim Americans who have faced bullying, profiling, or immigration related issues because of their faith practice. I will be aiding Mr. Khaleel in that cam-paign and other civil rights advocacy mat-ters.

My name is Anuj Gupta and I am a rising second year law stu-dent at the American University Washington College of Law. I hope to pursue a career in Intellec-tual Property law. I graduated from American University with a degree in Film and Media Arts and Finance. Prior to beginning law school, I was a curatorial as-sistant at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and helped design and create original footage for the Beyond Bollywood exhibition. This summer, I will be interning as the Computer & Communications Industry Associ-ation in D.C. where I hope to hone in on my legal research and writ-ing skills and also prepare amicus briefs about advocating for more open markets. I also hope to learn more about the intellectual proper-ty field.

MAHAM DURRANI ANUJ GUPTA NAVNEET JASWAL

A native St. Louis, I attended Saint Louis University where I graduated with an Honors B.A. in Political Science, Inter-national Studies and Women’s Studies. After completing my masters from SLU, I spent two years as a Teach For America Corps Member, teaching 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade for the St. Louis Public Schools District. Since beginning law school here at GW, I have had the opportunity to in-tern in many different areas of govern-ment, including the D.C. Rental Housing Commission, the U.S. District Court in Maryland, and most recently the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office in their Sex Of-fense and Domestic Violence section. My work with the USAO and membership in GW's Domestic Violence Clinic sparked my interest in advocacy against sexual violence.

As a result, this summer I will be working for Legal Momentum as a clerk for their National Judicial Education Pro-gram. The NJEP creates curricula on sex-ual assault and sexual violence for court officials in order to help improve prosecu-tion of these crimes, and I am very excit-ed to be part of this work during the com-ing summer.

2014 SABA2014 SABA2014 SABA---DC Public Interest Fellowship RecipientsDC Public Interest Fellowship RecipientsDC Public Interest Fellowship Recipients Due to the number and quality of the applications received, SABA-DC awarded the Public Interest Fellowship to five exceptional recipients who are showcased below. Thanks to the support of its law firm and corporate sponsors and individual donors, SABA-DC is able to provide this financial assistance to law school students through its Fellowship program.


My name is Ami Shah, and I will be graduating from the Georgetown University Law Center in May 2015. I want to shape my legal career in health law and policy. This summer, I am pursuing opportunities in public interest lawyering by working at the American Cancer Society (ACS), as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. By splitting my summer, I hope to get exposure to both worlds of the non-profit and the government.

At ACS, I am working with the legal team on compliance issues ranging from tax implications of 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) sta-tus, lobbying laws, and international law issues dealing with expanding the Cancer Action Network to countries like India. At HHS, I will learn about health law policies at the federal government agency in charge of overseeing the implementation of the Af-fordable Care Act.

AMI SHAH FARHAN ZAHID

I am originally from Kansas City, MO, where I attended Park University and re-ceived a BA in Political Science. After that, I worked full-time as a hotel clerk at Hampton Inn, as well as part-time in a federal program as an English tutor to college students from low-income families. Then, I moved to New York, where I earned an MA in Middle East-ern Studies from CUNY. I recently complet-ed my second year of law school at Temple in Philadelphia. Last summer I served as an intern to District Judges Cynthia M. Rufe and Cathy Bissoon. Throughout the years, I have also been heavily involved in activism and community organizing.

Currently, I am interning at the U.S. Department of Labor in the Office of the Solicitor, where I hope to develop the skills and experience to begin a career that is both intellectually and personally satisfying as well as of benefit to others.

2014 SABA2014 SABA2014 SABA---DC Public Interest Fellowship Recipients DC Public Interest Fellowship Recipients DC Public Interest Fellowship Recipients


2014 SABA-DC

PUBLIC INTEREST FELLOWSHIP

BENEFIT GALA

Saturday, December 6, 2014 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

District Architecture Center Washington, DC

Save the Date

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