Pankit J. Doshi  

 Candidate for President-Elect

Personal Statement

I am honored to submit my name as a candidate for the position of NAPABA President-Elect for the 2016-2017 year. I am incredibly passionate about NAPABA and value the leadership and guidance NAPABA provides to the APA community in the form of a strong professional network and by spearheading legal, judicial and social causes.

I have had the distinct pleasure of serving this past year as NAPABA’s Vice-President of Programs and Operations. In this position, I have worked hard to ensure that the programs and services that NAPABA offers to its members and the community are strong and that we keep focus on our strategic plan. I also chaired a taskforce designed to strengthen NAPABA’s synergy with its robust Committees and Networks and to evaluate existing programs based on feedback from members and stakeholders in order to maximize their value.

We have accomplished much this year, and we have a unique opportunity to reach even greater heights in the next few years than ever before. I’ve seen firsthand how NAPABA’s reach can truly make a difference in our community in a significant way. Most recently, I saw how our advocacy efforts were rewarded when I participated again in NAPABA’s Annual Lobby Day in Washington, DC. So many of the congressional officials we spoke with not only thanked us for raising issues important to our community but also agreed to support our positions when they were previously undecided. That is advocacy. That is change. And that is what NAPABA does.

It has been my privilege to be involved with NAPABA for many years. In addition to serving as Vice President of Programs and Operations, I also served as Treasurer for two terms, where I had the privilege of managing the organization’s financial growth and to strategically enhance NAPABA's fiscal position. I also previously served as NAPABA’s Regional Governor and Alternate Regional Governor for the Central California Region and Co-Chair of NAPABA’s Litigation Committee. From 2009 to 2010, I served on the planning committee for both the NAPABA California-Nevada Regional Conference in Los Angeles in 2009 and the National Convention in Los Angeles in 2010. I have also been heavily involved in API organizations at the local level, having served as President of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California and on the Board of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County, both strong NAPABA affiliate organizations.

I am currently a partner in the San Francisco, California office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, where I practice labor and employment litigation on behalf of employers and am a member of the firm’s Diversity and Recruiting Committees. In 2011, I was appointed by the State Bar of California Board of Governors to serve a three-year term on the State Bar of California Council on Access and Fairness, where our focus had been to promote diversity in the legal profession and fix the pipeline to the profession through early education outreach and pre-law programs. I was also selected to participate in the American Bar Association's Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section 2012 Leadership Academy, selected with a group of approximately 20 lawyers across the country identified as emerging bar leaders.

I would be grateful to continue giving back to an organization that has given me so much both personally and professionally. It would be an honor to carry on the legacy that so many before us have worked tirelessly for and to build on that foundation as NAPABA continues to thrive in the future.

Please do let me know if you have any questions about my candidacy at pdoshi@sheppardmullin.com. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Candidate Bio

PANKIT J. DOSHI is a Partner in the San Francisco, California office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.

Pankit’s practice focuses on employment litigation on behalf of management and preventive counseling. Pankit has represented employers in both state and federal litigation involving trade secret misappropriation, whistleblower, restrictive covenants, wage and hour, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, statutory leave, retaliation, and breach of contract claims. Pankit has also represented employers in complex class action and representative action litigation and at administrative hearings and during investigations by various state and federal agencies. Pankit regularly provides advice and counseling to employers of all sizes, ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies, and has spoken on a number of panels and published articles related to employment law issues across the country.

Pankit is presently the Vice President of Programs and Operations for NAPABA, having previously served as NAPABA’s Treasurer for two terms, Regional Governor and Alternate Governor for the Central California Region, Co-Chair of the Litigation Committee and on the host committee for both the California-Nevada Regional Conference in 2009 and the Annual Convention in 2010. Pankit is also active at the local level with community organizations and NAPABA affiliates, having served as President of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California, on the Board of Governor of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County and on the Executive Advisory Council of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles.

Endorsements

*All work or organizational affiliations disclosed are for identification and disclosures purposes only, and do not constitute endorsements by those institutions.