CO-PRESIDENT

Avni P. Mehta is a Senior Managing Associate at Sidley Austin LLP’s office in Century City, where she focuses her practice on global corporate and private equity transaction matters, representing privately held corporate entities and funds in domestic and cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, other business combinations, equity investments, corporate restructurings, and general corporate matters.  She earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.S. in Foreign Service with a focus on International Politics – Security Studies and Asian Studies from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Avni enjoys singing, cooking and traveling in her free time.

CO-PRESIDENT

Shilpa Anand is a trial attorney at Castelblanco Law Group, in Studio City, California, where she champions tenants’ rights, through litigation focused on slum-housing and habitability cases. Ms. Anand received her J.D at Southwestern Law School, and completed her undergraduate education at the University of California San Diego, double-majoring in Psychology and International Studies. During her free time, she loves hiking, cooking, going for walks, and traveling.

PRESIDENT ELECT

TREASURER

Shuchee Shah is a healthcare transactional attorney in the Orange County office of Theodora Oringher.  She focuses her practice on structuring collaborative and strategic ventures and represents clients in all phases of transactions across diverse industries, with a specific emphasis on the health care industry.  She received her JD from the University of Southern California Gould School on Law. Throughout law school, Shuchee worked in the Mediation Clinic where she mediated over a hundred cases and was on the Executive Board of the Peer Mentor Program.  In addition, she served as President of the South Asian Law Student Association and Vice President of the Public Interest Law Foundation.  Furthermore, Shuchee was the Senior Production Editor of the Southern California Review of Law and Social Justice and had her note published the 75th edition of the journal.  She currently sits on the board of the South Asian Bar Association.  Shuchee earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor in Political Science and a minor in Business Administration in 2011.

SECRETARY

ADVISORY MEMBER

Julie Ferguson Patel is an Associate Counsel of Business & Legal Affairs at NBCUniversal Media in the filmed entertainment group, where she focuses on licensing film and TV content and advising on promotional, marketing, and publicity initiatives. Julie graduated from UC Irvine with a B.A. in Public Health Policy, received her J.D. from Chapman University School of Law, and is currently pursuing an M.B.A. at the University of Southern California. She has been a member of the SABA-SC board since 2019, previously serving as its Community Engagement Director and Co-President Elect. In her spare time, Julie enjoys traveling, cooking, and watching the latest movies.

MEMBERSHIP

PUBLICITY & MARKETING

Marize Alphonso is in-house counsel for Apple Inc.’s original content team, and previously worked at boutique entertainment law firms providing legal services for talent and many TV shows and movies. Marize graduated from UC Berkeley with a double major in Rhetoric and English, and from UCLA School of Law with a specialization in Entertainment, Media and Intellectual Property. She was a past-president of SABA-SoCal; she’s currently on the board of the Professional Entertainment Female Attorneys non-profit org and a co-chair of the organizing committee for the annual APA Holiday Toy Drive. For fun, Marize sings with the LA Lawyers Philharmonic’s Legal Voices, volunteers with Reading to Kids, and enjoys cake decorating, book clubs, swing dancing, and pub trivia.

MENTORSHIP

Pooja V. Patel is an associate attorney at Zaller Law Group, PC. Pooja is an employment attorney who represents employers in a wide range of labor and employment litigation and assists employers in navigating complex workplace issues such as sexual harassment training and responding to administrative investigations and complaints. Pooja is a California native and received her B.A. from California State University, Long Beach, and J.D. from Case Western Reserve, School of Law. Pooja has been an active member of the South Asian Bar Association since law school. During her free time, Pooja enjoys spending time with her family and dog, and traveling the world with her husband.

MENTORSHIP

MENTORSHIP

EVENTS (OC)

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

EVENTS (LA)

EVENTS (OC)

JUDICIAL EVALUATIONS (OC)

Janani Rana is a Certified Family Law Specialist and experienced trial lawyer at Minyard Morris, a family law firm in Newport Beach. She handles complex family law issues and high net worth matters. She limits her practice to Orange County. Janani earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law and her Bachelor of Science in Political Theory with a Minor in South Asian Studies from the University of California, San Diego. She is a three-time graduate of the Kolodny Family Law Trial Institute held at the South Texas College of Law and the Trial Skills Institute of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. She is a Past President of SABA-SC (2019-2020) and a SABA-SC Steering Committee member. Janani is excited to be back on the Board this term as the Judicial Endorsement Chair for Orange County and the Inland Empire. She serves as Co-Chair of the Orange County Chapter of the USC Gould Alumni Association and serves on the Associate Board of Project Youth OCBF. She is a member of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists, the Orange County Bar Association (Family Law Section and the Diversity & Inclusion Committee), the Academy of Certified Financial Litigators (Founding Member), the Orange County Family Law Banyard Inn of Court, Orange County Women Lawyers Association (Gala Committee), Orange County Asian American Bar Association, and National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. In her spare time, Janani advocates for epilepsy funding and research (specifically, infantile spasms), and enjoys traveling with her husband and two children.

JUDICIAL EVALUATIONS (LA)

JUDICIAL EVALUATIONS (LA)

LAW STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE