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Elected Member

The Hon.
Roopali
Hardin
Desai

Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Affiliation
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Education
The University of Arizona, B.A. Women's Studies
University of Arizona Zuckerman College of Public Health, M.P.H.
University of Arizona College of Law, J.D.

Judge Roopali H. Desai was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Biden in 2022. She received her J.D., M.P.H., and B.A. from the University of Arizona. Judge Desai clerked for Chief Judge Emeritus Mary M. Schroeder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2005-06.

Before joining the court, Judge Desai was in private practice as a partner in the Phoenix law firm Coppersmith Brockelman, where she specialized in complex civil litigation and political law. She was a leading election lawyer in Arizona and handled numerous trials and appellate matters on behalf of for-proft and non-profit businesses, political parties and PACs, campaigns, and individuals.

Judge Desai served as outside counsel to the Arizona Secretary of State and handled more than a dozen cases relating to voting procedures and election results in connection with the 2020 General Election. 

Judge Desai is a professor of practice at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. She has also served on the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Civil Justice Reform.

Areas of Expertise
Election (Political Law)
Civil Rights (Constitutional Law)
Complex Civil Litigation (Complex Litigation)
Constitutional Law
Civil Litigation (Litigation)