Sanket Bulsara became the first South Asian-American judge for the Second Circuit when he was officially sworn in during an investiture ceremony at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) in Downtown Brooklyn on Thursday.
Bulsara, who began serving in the position this past August, was sworn in as a magistrate judge by the court’s Chief Judge Dora Irizarry while standing beside his wife Christine DeLorenzo.
Bulsara’s parents, Jayshukh and Aruna Bulsara, who are both immigrants from India, helped with the robing ceremony, and Hon. John G. Koeltl, David Bitknower and Howard M. Shapiro spoke.
Irizarry discussed the importance of Bulsara’s presence on the bench and noted that she saw it firsthand during a naturalization ceremony in September.
“Judge Bulsara is a living example of the American dream,” Irizarry said. “He is the son of immigrants from India who instilled in him the love of learning, the value of hard work, respect for others, humility and the importance of public service.
“It is readily apparent when a juror, criminal defendant, civil litigant or attorney walks into a courtroom and sees on the bench someone who looks like him or her,” Irizarry continued. “It signals that there is fairness in the American system of justice and that the American dream is alive and well. It promotes respect for and confidence in our judiciary. We also serve as role models for young people who may want to become attorneys or judges someday.”
Prior to his appointment to EDNY, Bulsara served as acting general counsel to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and spent a decade with the law firm Wilver, Cutler, Pickering, Hale & Dorr. Bulsara also worked as a special prosecutor within the Brooklyn DA’s Office.
Bulsara’s friends and colleagues portrayed him as a tenacious and excellent attorney who loves to debate and has a meticulous knowledge of civil procedure.
Shapiro, chair of the litigation department at Wilmer Hale, said that Bulsara introduced the Civil Procedure Question of the Month to the law firm, which became immensely popular. Shapiro also explained how Bulsara would go above and beyond when trying cases and even purchased and learned how to use a mud scale for a trial.
“Sanket found a teaching video with how to measure the density of drilling mud, but to make sure he understood every aspect of the argument he was making, he acquired a mud-weight scale,” Shapiro said. “When we went into meet with the Department of Justice, he insisted on bringing it with him. We cited our color-coded data, we recited the law, but most importantly we wielded the scale.”
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Bulsara didn’t initially get into the college. After he was formally rejected, two classmates of his, who had already been accepted, wrote to the school and explained that they were making a mistake, Shapiro recalled during his speech.
Bulsara’s speech was half speech-half letter to his mother that explained how he became a judge. He said that his first rule is that every case is important. He also discussed how his wife helped him to prepare for the job as federal magistrate judge.
“I’m lucky, honored and humbled to work in this courthouse,” Bulsara said. “I’m humbled to serve the people of this district and to call these distinguished magistrate judges and judges my colleagues and friends. Today a skinny kid whose parents grew up in a foreign land gets to live his dream and be a federal court judge.”
