Earlier this month, the Governor of California appointed Indian American Vaibhav Mittal as a judge in the Orange County Superior Court. Mittal became the first person of South Asian descent to hold this post.
The 39-year-old is a Democrat and was sworn in on 10 September to replace Judge Ronald L Bauer at the County Court. He has worked previously as Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California and was promoted to the post of Deputy Chief, which he has held since 2019.
Mittal was a political science and an electrical engineering graduate from University of California, Berkeley. He worked in the semiconductor industry before joining New York University School of Law.
Mittal has argued in courts, and has trained and supervised lawyers. He has worked on matters concerning "public corruption, financial fraud, hacking, trademark infringement, child exploitation, immigration crimes, and drug trafficking," American Kahani reported.
He has also been a lecturer for the University of California, Irvine School of Law, encouraging and mentoring law students to pursue careers in the public interest, American Bazaar reported.
As a member of the South Asian Association since 2012, he has served the South Asian community and has garnered support from the association. He served as SABA-SC’s Judicial Evaluations co-chair from 2014 to 2018, and served as treasurer for SABA-PIF from 2012 to 2014. He is currently on the Orange County Bar Association’s Diversity Committee.
"We are thrilled about Judge Mittal’s appointment to the Orange County bench, an appointment that reflects the significant South Asian population in the region."Marize Alphonso and Rohit D Nath, co-Presidents of SABA-SC to American Bazaar
(With inputs from American Bazaar and American Kahani)
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