Co-Presidents

Shaamini Babu

Shaamini Babu is an associate at Saltzman & Johnson Law Corporation, a boutique law firm in San Francisco that represents employee benefit plans. Her practice focuses on litigating withdrawal liability matters in federal district court on behalf of multi-employer pension plans in the construction industry. She currently also serves on the Board of Directors for the Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (APILO), assisting with fundraising, grant writing and volunteer recruitment in an effort to help provide legal services to underserved communities. In February 2011, she organized a conference on behalf of SABA-NC to encourage high school and college students to attend law school to increase diversity in the legal profession. Shaamini assisted with a SABA-NC fundraiser in 2010 which yielded more than $25,000 for Pakistan flood survivors. She was a Co-Chair of the Pro Bono Committee of SABA- NC during the 2008-2009 term when she staffed legal clinics, formed alliances with organizations, and organized legal trainings. As a former member of the SABA-NC’s Civil Rights Committee she spearheaded a voter registration program throughout the Bay Area in 2008. In the past, she served as a volunteer-judge for the McCullum Youth Court in Oakland. As a law student, Shaamini received a fellowship to clerk at Public Advocates, Inc. where she assisted with cases and campaigns to promote educational equity. While in college, she volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and worked with abused children. Shaamini received her law degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law, and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Davis.

Nina Paul

Nina Paul is an attorney with Van de Poel, Levy & Allen LLP in Walnut Creek, where she practices employment law. Nina graduated from UC Berkeley with B.A. in Economics in 2003 and from UC Hastings with J.D., Concentration in Civil Litigation in 2006. While at Hastings, Nina served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly and Co-President of the Hastings South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA). Nina previously served on the 2007 North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) Convention Host Committee and as Secretary, Events Co-Chair, and Gala Chair of SABA-NC.

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Vice President

Maulik Shah

Maulik Shah is an associate in the San Francisco office of Arnold & Porter LLP where he is a member of the firm's litigation group. His practice focuses on contract and intellectual property litigation, and covers all stages of business dispute resolution, including arbitration, jury trials, and appeals.

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Treasurer

Nitin Jindal

Nitin Jindal is an associate at Bingham McCutchen where he represents clients on various antitrust, intellectual property, and other complex commercial litigation matters. He focuses on the technology and financial services industries, and has experience in all phases of litigation. During law school, Nitin worked with the Institute for Public Representation, where he challenged the decisions of the Federal Communications Commission before the agency and in various U.S. Court of Appeals. Prior to law school, Nitin worked as an accountant for the Carlyle Group.

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Secretary

Neera Sivarajah

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Pro-Bono Committee Co-Chairs

Megha Agarwal

Suchitra Narayen

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Professional Development Committee Co-Chairs

Nimish Desai

Nimish Desai is an associate in the San Francisco office of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP.  His practice focuses on environmental and mass  torts, consumer class actions, and federal and state false claims act statutes.  Nimish earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law in 2006.  Prior to law school, he earned a B.S. with high honors in Chemical Engineering and a B.A. with high honors in Plan II Liberal Arts from the University of Texas, Austin.  Nimish previously worked for the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program, Public Citizen, and the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources.  He has also published several articles, including "American Chemistry Council v. Johnson: Community Right to Know, But About What?" Ecology Law Quarterly, Winter 2006, and "Analysis of Motor Vehicle Emissions in a Houston Tunnel during Texas Air Quality Study 2000," Atmospheric Environment, 38, 3363-3372 (2004), and has contributed to a treatise on California class action practice.

Akshay Verma

Akshay Verma is an associate in Farella Braun + Martel's Environmental Law Department, where his practice includes both environmental counseling and litigation. Mr. Verma represents clients in a variety of industries to address claims filed under federal and state statutes, including CERCLA, RCRA, the HSAA, toxic torts and Proposition 65. In his litigation practice, Mr. Verma represents a corporation as a plaintiff in a complex litigation involving soil and groundwater contamination. He also has experience with natural resource damages litigation and remediation of contaminated properties. Mr. Verma also counsels clients on requirements under California's Global Warming Solutions Act, the Clean Water Act, NEPA and CEQA, and the Clean Air Act. He recently represented a municipality as plaintiff in a complex litigation over groundwater contamination, with causes of action under CERCLA, RCRA and California statutes.

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Endorsements Committeee Co-Chairs

Suneeta Fernandes

Suneeta Fernandes is an associate at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy, and Bass LLP where she advises clients on various complex commercial litigation matters. Suneeta received her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and her B.A. in Economics and Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago.  While attending law school, she represented asylum seekers through the Bluhm Legal  Clinic. She was also an active participant in the Northwestern University Center for International Human Rights, where she contributed to amicus briefs to international criminal tribunals. Prior to law school, Suneeta worked as a scientific associate, modeling emissions and their effects on global warming, and has published articles in numerous peer-reviewed scientific journals

Sunil Kulkarni

Sunil Kulkarni joined the Office of the General Counsel for the University of California in January 2011. He is a member of the litigation group, specializing in administrative hearings and complex litigation. Before joining the office, Mr. Kulkarni worked for over 13 years as an associate, and then a partner, in the Palo Alto office of Morrison & Foerster LLP, where he represented technology and other companies in patent, securities, and other complex civil litigation. He also clerked for U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger. Mr. Kulkarni is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (B.S., with honors, 1993) and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (J.D., with high honors, 1996), where he was Managing Editor of the Hastings Law Journal.

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Events & Membership Committeee Co-Chairs

Sylvia Bains

Sylvia Bains practices in the Litigation and Corporate groups at the Santa Clara office of The Chugh Firm, APC. Sylvia received her J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and her B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of California, Davis. While at Santa Clara University, Sylvia served as the President of the South Asian Law Student Association. Sylvia also served on the board of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California as the Student Liaison. In addition to the South Asian Bar Association, Sylvia is also a member of the board of the South Asian Bar Association Foundation as the events co-chair

Shilpi Bannerjee

Shilpi Banerjee is Co-Chair of the Membership & Events Committee of SABA-NC and currently works as a Volunteer Attorney at the National Housing Law Project in San Francisco. Before moving to the Bay area, she worked in Denver, Colorado: first as a law clerk at the Colorado Court of Appeals and subsequently at a small law firm. Shilpi earned her J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, Colorado, where she was a Casenote & Comment Editor for the University of Colorado Law Review and received the Natural Resources Award for outstanding scholarship and service in natural resources and environmental law. Before law school, Shilpi worked as a Research Associate at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a large non-profit energy and environmental policy research organization in New Delhi, India. She has a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and grew up in New Delhi.

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Civil Rights Committee Chair

Minal Belani

Minal Belani currently practices in San Franisco, California as an Attorney/Consultant for a few small civil litigation firms located throughout the Bay Area. Prior to running her own show, she was an associate Jampol Zimet Skane Wilcox LLP and Flashpoint Law, Inc. Ms. Belani has experience representing individuals and businesses in construction, real estate, trademark, employment and licensing disputes. Ms. Belani as well maintains a pro bono practice and represents indigent clients in matters concerning access to fair housing and political asylum. Ms. Belani has as well participated in international law programs which have exposed her to the practice of law in Southeast Asia and Central America. Ms. Belani holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Scripps College, and a Juris Doctorate degree from Santa Clara University. She is admitted to practice law in California.

Shalini Swaroop

Shalini Swaroop is the Senior Staff Attorney for the Black Economic Council, National Asian American Coalition and the Latino Business Chamber of Greater Los Angeles. These groups work to create green jobs for diverse communities in California and advocate for low-income minorities before the California Public Utilities Commission. Shalini has extensive international and domestic human rights experience. She has advocated for human rights in Colorado, New York, India, Nepal, Cambodia and Holland with grassroots organizations, established legal non-profits and international entities. She also clerked at the High Court of American Samoa. Shalini earned her J.D. from Boalt Hall, where she was student body president and an editor on the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice.

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2010-2011