(Image source from: A lawyer of India origin appointed as US state judge)

Sunil R Kulkarni, a Indian-American lawyer of great eminence has been appointed as a state judge in Northern California. He is the first South Asian to take up the esteemed role.

Kulkarni, 41, has previously worked as a senior counsel in the litigation group at the University of California. He was appointed to Santa Clara County Superior Court by Governor Jerry Brown last month.

Although of an Indian origin, Kulkarni was born in Los Angeles and is currently residing in Palo Alto in California. On the esteemed offer,  Kulkarni said, he was "thrilled to get the call" from the governor's office about the appointment.

Asked about the fact that more South Asian Americans are advancing in the legal and judicial fields, Kulkarni said he believes "it is because South Asians in my generation" are "more open about law as a career."

“Kulkarni has a BS from UC-Berkeley and a law degree from the University of California's Hastings College of the Law. He has also served as a law clerk for Judge Oliver W Wanger in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California from 1996-97,” revealed the Economic Times.

AW: Suchorita Dutta