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Justice Mesiwala to address UC Davis Law Class of 2026
Mesiwala, who built her career in public service, now serves on California’s Third Appellate District after a tenure on the trial court.
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Malvika Choudhary - Tue, 14, Apr 2026
- 15:49 EDT
- 23
Shama Mesiwala / UC Davis Law
Indian American judge Shama Mesiwala will deliver the keynote address at the UC Davis School of Law Class of 2026 commencement on May 9.
An associate judge at the California Court of Appeals, Third Appellate District, Mesiwala was unanimously confirmed to the court in 2023 after serving six years on the Sacramento County Superior Court.
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After law school, she represented indigent criminal defendants at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Sacramento and the Central California Appellate Program, where she argued cases before the California Supreme Court and state courts of appeal.
She later served within the judiciary as a central staff attorney and as chambers attorney to Justice Ronald B. Robie at the Third Appellate District. In 2017, she was appointed commissioner of the Sacramento County Superior Court and elevated to judge 10 months later.
During her tenure on the trial court, Mesiwala presided over criminal and civil jury trials, civil bench trials, juvenile dependency matters, and mental health proceedings. She also established Northern California’s first Indian Child Welfare Act courtroom and served as the Americans with Disabilities Act judge for the Hall of Justice.
Alongside her judicial work, Mesiwala has taught Appellate Advocacy at the UC Davis School of Law for more than 13 years, instructing over 900 students.
She is a co-founder of the South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento and has led its annual Diversity Law Student Reception for 19 years. She also serves on the California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions.
Her recognitions include the Unity Bar community service award, the Frances Newell Carr Award from Women Lawyers of Sacramento, the King Hall Legal Foundation’s Judge of the Year award, and the Ally Award from SacLegal, Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ bar association.
She has also received the Asian Bar Association of Sacramento’s president’s award and was named a top 25 Asian American/Pacific Islander Change Maker by The Sacramento Bee.
The daughter of an immigrant from Mumbai, India, Mesiwala was born in Stanford and raised in Cupertino, California. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of California San Diego in three years and earned her law degree from UC Davis School of Law in 1998, beginning her legal studies at age 20.
The commencement ceremony will be held at the Mondavi Center and will also feature remarks from Gary May, who will confer degrees, while Jessica Berg will serve as emcee. Aaron Tang will deliver the faculty address.
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