Jayasri Ganapathy installed as president of SABANY in Federal Court ceremony

February 2, 2020 By Caroline Ourso

New officers and directors of the South Asian Bar Association of New York, including new President Jayasri Ganapathy (eighth from right), were installed during a ceremony presided over by Hon. Sanket Bulsara in Manhattan last week. Photo courtesy of SABANY

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The South Asian Bar Association of New York installed Jayasri Ganapathy as its new president during its annual installation and kickoff ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 22 in the ceremonial courtroom of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in Manhattan.

Ganapathy and others were installed by Federal Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara, from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The other officers who were installed included Ruchi Shah as president-elect, Poonam Sethi as secretary and Amit Kumar as treasurer.

Newly inducted members of the South Asian Bar Association of New York smile outside the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit in Manhattan on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Eagle photos by Caroline Ourso

The new officers and board members were thrilled to have the federal magistrate swear them in.

“You are genuinely an inspiration to all of us,” Ganapathy told Bulsara during her speech after the swearing-in.

Ganapathy explained that her dedication to SABANY comes before nearly everything else in her life and even admitted that while she was in law school, she dropped a class on one occasion because it interfered with bar association events.

Vidya Pappachan, left, and Hon. Deepa Ambekar.

“So, I promise I’m very dedicated,” she said with a laugh.

Ganapathy is a graduate of Rutgers University and Hofstra University School of Law. She currently serves as legislative counsel for the City Council. Prior to that, she served as an associate at Israel, Israel & Purdy, LLP and also at the Law Office of Steven Keats.

She is also very active in other local bar associations in addition to SABANY, including the Asian American Bar Association of New York and the New York City Bar Association. She also works with the Asian American Legal Defense Education Fund as a Young Professionals Committee volunteer.

From left: Arun Bhoumik, Maneesh Gulati, Ruchi Shah and Neha Dewan.

During her speech following the installation, Ganapathy went on to emphasize that the camaraderie and collegiality of the bar association makes a huge impact on members, in their work as attorneys.

“Together, we will work to foster a sense of community among our members through social events,” said Ganapathy, “We’ll grow our presence, our impact, our pro bono clinic and our know-your-rights programs. We’ll work to inspire the next generation of attorneys through our public interest fellowship. And we’ll provide substance and support to our members through CLEs and networking opportunities.”

The new president recognizes that she won’t be running the association alone and took time to thank all of the other officers and board members.

From left: Anju Malhotra, Biju Koshy and Anand Sinha.

From left: Beesham Seecharan, Austin D’Souza, Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara, Biju Koshy and Randy Jagbier.

“I’m very fortunate that I have a wonderful board with me to achieve our goals,” Ganapathy continued. “I challenge every one of you to join us in this endeavor and to take an active role in SABANY.”

The members of SABANY’s executive board are Ganapathy, Shah, Kumar and Sethi, along with Vice President of Events Nadia Ishaq, Vice President of Public Relations Austin D’Souza, Vice President of Private Sector/In-House Lawyers Gigio Ninan, Vice President of Public Interest Raabia Qasim, Vice President of Sponsorship Anand Sinha, Vice President of Fellowships and Law Student Relations Vidya Pappachan, Women’s Committee Chair Gargi Sen, Gala Chair Asima Chaudhary and Pro Bono Clearinghouse Coordinator Rohit Kumar.

SABANY’s directors include Arunabha Bhoumik, Neha Dewan, Maneesh Gulati, Biju Koshy, Anju Malhotra, Beesham Seecharan and Gurinder Singh.

After the ceremony, members headed over to the Wooly to celebrate the start of the association’s new year with cocktails.