San Francisco, CA, May 24, 2012 - The South Asian Bar Association of Northern California Foundation (SABA-NC Foundation) held their sixth annual Public Interest Fellowship Awards reception at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco on May 17, 2012.  The Fellowship Program is designed to encourage law students to consider practice as public interest lawyers and to support them with their efforts. 

The Dalip Singh Saund Fellowship of $3500 was given to Samia Hossain, a student at University of California Berkeley School of Law with exceptional advocacy experience, who will be working at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Center for Democracy, National Security Program, in New York.  The SABA Foundation proudly provided fellowships of $2500 each to Marissa Ram (Brennan Center for Justice & ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project), Imram Bhatti (Public Advocates, Inc.), Darrick Ing (Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, LGBT Domestic Violence Project) and Nandini Dasarathy (Maitri).  The Organization Fellowship of $1500 went to Trikone which is headquartered in the Bay Area and is the oldest South Asian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights group in the world.

The SABA-NC Foundation was pleased to present Protima Pandey with the Public Interest Attorney of the Year Award. Ms. Pandey, Staff Attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid, focuses on advocacy and legal representation of domestic violence survivors. Javed Ellahie was presented with the Community Leader of the Year Award. He is one of the first Pakistani American attorneys in the Bay Area, and has defended the civil rights of the Muslim and Pakistani American communities for many years.   

SABA-NC Foundation Co-President, Daljit Dhami, stated "The Foundation was formed more than a decade ago and continues to foster the growth of public interest attorneys in our community. Many of our Fellows become strong community leaders advancing unique projects that protect the environment, advance social justice, and ensure justice among the underserved.  We are also very honored to recognize Trikone for its commitment to the South Asian LGBT community since 1986." 

Attendees included SABA-NC Co-President, Shaamini Babu, who commented "I admire all the fellows and awardees and am moved by their dedication to public interest law.  SABA-NC is delighted to contribute to the SABA-NC Foundation so that fellows are able to pursue their professional goals and serve our communities."