MoFo litigation partner Purvi G. Patel was presented with the 2019 Mentor of the Year Award during the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California’s (SABA-SC) annual Mentorship Reception, held on October 22 at the downtown Los Angeles offices of Nixon Peabody.
The Mentor of the Year Award recognizes the invaluable contributions made by a SABA-SC mentor to law students and attorneys at the start of their careers throughout the course of the mentorship program year. The organization praised Purvi as “a pillar of the South Asian legal community, and an amazing mentor to many.”
Purvi, who also served as co-president of SABA-SC’s board of directors from 2018 to 2019, has been involved in the organization for over eight years. She first served on the organization’s Public Interest Foundation board for six years before joining the SABA-SC board, and now serves as an advisor to the board.
Co-president of SABA-SC Janani Rana presented Purvi with the Mentor of the Year Award, remarking that “there are very few people that are as generous with their time and demonstrate sincere empathy the way Purvi does.” She also included some warm words from those Purvi has directly impacted with her unique brand of mentorship, including the following from MoFo associate Maggie Mayo:
“Purvi has made a huge impact on my professional development. Throughout our relationship, which predates the time we worked together directly, she has always taken the time out of her (very busy) schedule to give her sound and thoughtful advice, both on big-picture career planning and the substantive work. Even when we are really busy, she is not only open to talking about my career trajectory, but often is the one starting the conversation.”
Rohit Nath, one of Purvi’s SABA-SC mentees who was in attendance, described Purvi as a “dedicated, proactive mentor.” Labdhi Sheth, who served on the board as a law student representative when Purvi was co-president, noted that “Purvi has helped me on several crossroads,” and appreciating that Purvi “has a way to calm nerves about upcoming interviews, the bar, really everything.”
In accepting the award, Purvi focused on the importance of mentorship, both from the mentor’s and mentee’s perspective, and the value of being proactive. She provided examples from her own career where mentorship made a difference, including an important lesson about self-care she learned while clerking for the Honorable Consuelo B. Marshall, who was also present at the ceremony. During and after the reception that followed, a number of attendees remarked that Purvi’s message really resonated with them.
In addition to celebrating Purvi as Mentor of the Year, the reception formally kicked off SABA-SC’s annual mentorship program and awarded scholarships to two South Asian law students. Attendees at the event also heard from keynote speakers Judge Marshall, U.S. District Court, Central District of California; and Sandhya Ramadas, Associate Principal Counsel at The Walt Disney Company.
Learn more about SABA-SC on their newly-designed website.
You can also read more about Purvi’s contributions as co-president of the organization in this MoFo+ article.