Mazda K. Antia is a litigation partner at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP. Mazda's practice focuses on Healthcare Litigation and Complex Contract and Commercial Litigation. Prior to joining Cooley, Mazda served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Hon. William J. Zloch, Chief Judge, of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. Prior to attending law school Mazda was the Program Manager of the American Hospital Association's $8 million Community Care Network Demonstration Program which sought to reform the delivery of health care services through collaborative community partnerships. He received his degree from the Northwestern University School of Law in 2000, where he served as an articles editor for the Northwestern Law Review.

Lavanya completed her LLB (JD equivalent) in India in 1999. She was a civil litigator with the Additional Advocate General's Office, Tamil Nadu, India until 2001. In 2002, Lavanya graduated from UCLA with an LLM in corporate and business law. Since then, she has gained experience in insurance defense, personal injury, medical malpractice, business and employment litigation. She is currently an associate at Grant & Zeko, a boutique law firm that practices commercial litigation.

 

Rama Padmanabhan graduated from Harvard Law School in 1999, at which time she also received a Masters in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  After several years of working with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Rama moved to San Diego and is a business associate at Cooley Godward & Kronish LLP.  As a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group, Rama’s practice includes general business and corporate representation, with particular emphasis on mergers, acquisitions, and public company representation.  

 

Rekha Chiruvolu graduated from New York University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology.  She earned her Juris Doctor from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark in 2005, where she was Articles Editor of the Rutgers Law Record and a member of the Rutgers Moot Court Board.  She moved to San Diego in 2005 from New Jersey.  Ms. Chiruvolu is an associate at Butz Dunn DeSantis & Bingham, practicing civil litigation.

 

Mustapha Parekh is an associate in the Cooley Godward Kronish Business. Mr. Parekh has a general corporate transactional practice, representing primarily emerging technology companies and investment firms. He represents both privately-held and public companies in the information technology, telecommunications, life sciences and retail industries in a wide range of transactions, including public offerings, private financings of equity and debt securities, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic collaborations.  Mr. Parekh earned a J.D. in 2004 from the University of San Diego School of Law.

 

Ajay Gupta graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2005. After a year with a boutique law firm specializing in real estate, Mr. Gupta began working with a number of individual companies on corporate and land development issues.  In 2007, Mr. Gupta formally opened the Gupta Legal Center.  Mr. Gupta’s practice focuses on bankruptcy, real estate and general business and corporate representation.  He represents a diverse client base from individuals working through a foreclosure or bankruptcy to start up companies getting their first round of financing. 

Ashish Khanna is currently an L.L.M. student at the University of San Diego, School of Law.  Ashish will serve on the 2009-2010 Board to SABA-SD’s Executive Committee as Outreach Coordinator. 
 
 

Farzeen Essa is an associate at Brown Law Group, where she practices in the firm’s transactional as well as litigation teams, assisting companies of all sizes with their formation, corporate and employment compliance as well as business, employment, and real estate litigation and transactions.  Ms. Essa is also very active in the community.  She currently serves as a founding board member and treasurer of the Girls Think Tank, a grass roots 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that fosters a culture of empowerment amongst women, while providing a catalyst for social change on issues that confront us daily.  She also serves on the California Western School of Law Alumni board of directors and the board of directors for the Young New Lawyer’s Division of the San Diego County Bar Association.  In addition, she serves as the co-chair for the Equality Committee and the Diverse Women’s Task Force for the Lawyers Club of San Diego.  Ms. Essa earned a J.D. in 2006 from California Western School of Law.

Nita graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2003.  She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Louisa S. Porter, United States District Court for the Southern District of California.  Nita currently works as an Appellate Research Attorney with the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One where she specializes in both civil and criminal appeals.  After serving on SABA-SD’s Board in 2003 and 2004 as Vice-President and Membership Chair, Nita became President of SABA-SD for the 2004-2006 term.