Tell us about your community growing up. Looking back, how did they shape who you are now?

I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Akron, Ohio. Although for most of my childhood I was the only South Asian kid in my school, we were part of a small but tightly knit group of immigrant Indian families in the broader area. That experience allowed me to develop a strong sense of cultural identity and bridge together my two worlds—providing a foundation that helped me navigate spaces throughout my career where I didn’t look like others around me.

Describe your journey to law school. What motivated you to apply?

To be candid, my decision to attend law school wasn’t a well informed one. I didn’t have any lawyers in my family, and my conception of legal practice was mostly from TV and my high school mock trial team—not something I’d advise other aspiring lawyers to rely on! I consider myself fortunate that I ended up enjoying law school so much, but I encourage prospective applicants to talk to lawyers and even consider working after college so they can make a more informed choice than I did.

What was your law school experience like?

I attended Berkeley Law just two years after California had ended affirmative action, and it was a time of some turmoil for the then-dwindling number of students of color on campus. But that turmoil also drew us together, and strengthened our relationships both among Asian-American students and with the African-American and Latino student communities. It was a formative time for me in many ways, including thinking critically (for the first time) about how our constitution and courts impact social justice.

Did you know about appellate work in law school? If not, when and how did it first get on your radar and why were you drawn to it?

I didn’t know what appellate law was when starting law school. My first exposure to federal court practice of any kind was the summer after my 1L year, when I did an externship with Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco. One of his law clerks that year was (now Judge) Vince Chhabria, who (though just a few years ahead of me in his young career) became a mentor in encouraging me to pursue an appellate clerkship and helping guide me through the application process.

One day that summer, Judge Breyer and Judge Chhabria conspired to call me in for a meeting about a memo I had written on some due process issue (even though I hadn’t yet taken constitutional law). I vividly recall Judge Breyer saying he hadn’t yet had a chance to review the memo closely, but that his older brother had done so and wanted to ask me some questions. I then turned my head and (much to my shock) see Justice Breyer sitting on the sofa with a copy of my memo in hand. I don’t recall the details of the constitutional law discussion, but that experience—what I fondly consider my first Supreme Court argument—planted the seed for later pursuing a clerkship with Justice Breyer. That is an opportunity that I very much owe to Judges Breyer and Chhabria, who opened the door to an entirely new field and future that day.

Tell us about one of your appellate cases that you found particularly meaningful.

When I was in the Solicitor General’s office, I had the privilege of being the primary drafter of the government’s petition in U.S. v. Windsor, in which the Supreme Court ultimately declared unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act and laid the groundwork for recognition of the right to same-sex marriage. During the Obama Administration, the federal government changed positions and took the rare step of attacking the constitutionality of a federal statute. As part of the DOJ team litigating that position, I had the opportunity to work closely with many divisions across the federal government, as well as the dynamic Robbie Kaplan (counsel for Edith Windsor) and others, in preparing the Solicitor General’s brief. That case was not only professionally significant given the immense civil rights consequences, but it was personally meaningful because the Court’s decision eventually allowed my uncle to marry his longtime partner.

How often do you encounter other Asians and/or Pacific Islanders in the appellate field? Why do you think that representation is important?

I’ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to work closely with several South Asian lawyers as I was learning to become a Supreme Court advocate. During my time in the Solicitor General’s office, I served with (now Chief Judge) Sri Srinivasan, Neal Katyal, and Kannon Shanmugam—all of whom I consider big brothers in a way. Although other ethnicities within the Asian-American community as well as the African-American and Latino communities remain far underrepresented, I do have the pleasure of practicing with younger rising star advocates in our Supreme Court & Appellate practice at Akin, including Julius Chen and Zach Tan.

What advice would you give to a law student of color who aspires to be where you are now?

Find mentors. It doesn’t have to be another person of color, but fortunately we have a critical mass of senior appellate lawyers of color who are willing to play that role and organizations like TAP that can help connect them. Take advantage!

What’s one thing law schools and/or the appellate bar can do to ensure our highest courts are representative of all our communities?

Law schools should put a priority on encouraging law students of color to pursue judicial clerkships. Unless you are privy to the insider view of that world, it can be intimidating and opaque—and seem inaccessible. Demystifying the process and providing greater individual support (tailored to each community’s students) could go a long way to diversifying the pool of law clerks, which is a key to diversifying both the appellate bar and the judiciary.