Harmeet K. Dhillon
Born in Chandigarh, India, and raised in North Carolina, Harmeet Dhillon is a Sikh American attorney and Republican political figure. She built a prominent litigation practice in San Francisco focused on First Amendment and employment law, and served as California Republican Party vice chair for over a decade. She founded the Center for American Liberty, […]
Vanita Gupta
Born in New York to Indian immigrant parents, Vanita Gupta is a civil rights attorney who gained national prominence leading the successful effort to overturn the drug convictions of 38 people in Tulia, Texas. She served as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division under President Obama (2014–2017). In 2021, President Biden nominated […]
Neomi Rao
Neomi Rao is an American jurist, legal scholar, and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, appointed in 2019. She is the first Indian American woman and the second Indian American, after Sri Srinivasan, to serve on the influential D.C. Circuit, widely regarded as the nation’s second most powerful […]
Manish Bapna Leads NRDC’s Frontier Environmental Litigation
Under Manish Bapna’s leadership, the Natural Resources Defense Council secured a major victory in NRDC v. DeJoy (2022–2023), forcing the U.S. Postal Service to reverse plans for a 165,000-vehicle gas-powered fleet in favor of electric vehicles. At the same time, the NRDC became the leading legal defender of state Climate Superfund laws, advancing a new […]
Indian American Lawyers Build a National Bar Infrastructure
The founding of the North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) created the first national network for South Asian legal professionals in the United States and Canada, building on the model established by the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California. By uniting regional organizations under a single umbrella, NASABA transformed the diaspora’s legal presence […]
Aruna Masih Breaks Barriers on State Judiciary and Labor Law
In 2023, Aruna Masih’s appointment to the Oregon Supreme Court expanded Indian American representation beyond the federal bench and into state courts, where the vast majority of American legal disputes are resolved. A former labor and civil rights attorney, she brought diaspora representation into both the judiciary and an area of law where it had […]
Indian Americans Lead Federal Prosecution and DOJ Leadership
Preet Bharara served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017, securing over 80 convictions in insider trading cases and becoming the most nationally recognized federal prosecutor of his generation. In 2021, Vanita Gupta was confirmed as Associate Attorney General, the third-highest position in the DOJ, becoming the first […]
Indian Americans Ascend the Federal Judiciary
In 2007, Amul Thapar became the first Indian American Article III federal judge, later elevated to the Sixth Circuit. In 2011, Cathy Bissoon became the first Indian American woman on the federal bench. Sri Srinivasan was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit in 2013 by a 97-0 vote, becoming its Chief Judge in 2020. A sustained […]
Neal Katyal Wins Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and Sets Supreme Court Record
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), brought by Neal Katyal, produced one of the Supreme Court’s most consequential wartime rulings, striking down the military commission system at Guantanamo Bay and reaffirming constitutional limits on executive power. Katyal went on to serve as Acting Solicitor General and by 2017 had argued before the Supreme Court more times than […]
Rachel Paulose Becomes First Indian American Woman Confirmed to Federal Post
The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Rachel Paulose as U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, making her the first Indian American woman confirmed by the Senate to any federal office. As the chief federal law enforcement officer for her district, she oversaw criminal prosecutions and represented the United States in major civil litigation. At a […]