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Today, we would like to introduce you to newly-minted Walsworth partner, Sadaf Nejat! Sadaf was promoted to partner this January and is looking forward to helping lead Walsworth into the future. Sadaf’s practice includes the representation of a variety of clients in life sciences, toxic tort, product liability, travel, and general litigation matters. She is one of the founders and a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, a member of Public Counsel’s Leadership Council, and helps organize the firm’s fundraising efforts for Public Counsel and Food From the Bar.

Sadaf is an Iranian-American who grew up in Southern California and never left, earning her undergraduate and law degrees from USC and Chapman, respectively. She enjoys a good glass of wine, her adorable cockapoo, trying (and loving) new foods, USC football, and using her legal talents to help her community.

Although Sadaf has done much to be proud of, we are especially grateful for her role in shaping the Pro Bono Committee. A big congratulations to Sadaf!

See below for Sadaf’s answers to questions posed about her life as a daughter, co-worker, and aspiring-relaxer:

Current Favorites:
Listening to: Taylor Swift
Film/Series: The Princess Bride
Book: The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
Phrase: “And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.” – The Beatles

Who is your mentor or the person you most admire?
The person I admire most is my mom. My childhood memories of her are studded with examples of her resilience, compassion for others, and big vision, none of which has faded over time. My little sister (also a lawyer!) and I were in middle school when she decided to enroll in the evening program at Western State Law School on top of her full-time day job. When it came time to study for the California Bar Exam, she retreated from our very full and noisy house to study in her car in a parking lot down the street. She hung out her own shingle more than twenty years ago and hasn’t looked back. She practices immigration law to this day, a homage to her personal history as an Iranian immigrant and now Iranian-American. She made this life and this career possible for me just by being her very impressive self despite every obstacle – something to aspire to! (And yes, we are a family of lawyers although my dad likes to joke that we may be the lawyers but he is the (figurative) judge!)

What does being part of the Walsworth Family mean to you?
A few years ago, fellow Walsworth partner, Soniya Khemlani, and I went out for a glass of wine after a long workday and somehow got to talking about how much we’d love to do pro bono work for Walsworth. We presented our idea to the firm and the Pro Bono Committee was born. This is what being part of the Walsworth Family means to me: chatting about amazing opportunities for the firm and its attorneys and staff over a glass of wine with one of my closest friends and being met by the firm open-heartedly about them! Today, the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and the firm’s attorneys and staff are actively involved in pro bono efforts of varying types in all of our communities, including Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
The Napa Valley! The practice of law has a way of making itself a part of everything I do and it can be hard to shake it off even when I’m on vacation. Obviously, I love the Napa Valley for the great wine (and food!), but it is also one of the only places in the world where I’m in “vacation mode” from the moment I arrive. I am really looking forward to visiting some of my favorite wineries in the very near future (fingers crossed!).

What do you find most rewarding/satisfying about the practice of law?
The opportunity to do pro bono work. To have a platform to do work that is meaningful to me on a personal level, with the firm’s support, is incredible.

What do you think of the way lawyers are portrayed on TV/in movies?
I’m going to go full lawyer on this one and say it depends! There are those lawyers that make people want to be lawyers (like Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife – love her in this one!) and then there are those TV/movie lawyers that give us all a bad name (like in The Devil’s Advocate – although I love this one too!) and everything in between. I guess it’s a lot like lawyers in real life.

What does it mean to you to work in a diverse law firm like Walsworth?
There are two things that stand out to me: (1) representation at the top, and (2) that I’ve actually felt the effects of that representation. I think this goes to Walsworth’s commitment to creating and cultivating an inclusive environment – it’s not about checking a box.