President - Somya Kaushik

Somya Kaushik the founder and President of SABA-OR. She is an experienced commercial, IP and data privacy litigator and transactional lawyer in Portland, Oregon. Kaushik represents both large and small businesses in pre-litigation and litigation matters, ranging from copyright and trademark infringement matters to complex data privacy and licensing deals.

Before moving to Portland in 2018, Kaushik practiced litigation in New York where she represented clients in healthcare, technology and IP cases in federal and state court, including appeals in the Appellate Division First Judicial Department. Kaushik has settled million-dollar cases and tried complex matters before juries in federal and state court, and continues to sharpen her legal skills here in Portland.

Kaushik has also represented clients in notable pro-bono matters including a pro-bono client in a 75-count superseding indictment in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging alleged members and associates of the Outlaw Gangsta Crips (OGC), and a large USPTO trademark infringement matter brought against her client Cascade Armory LLC by Under Armour Inc.

Along with practicing law, Kaushik founded EsqMe, Inc., a legal technology company aimed at helping lawyers practice law more efficiently and cost effectively. Her firsthand experience as CEO gives her a unique perspective and advantage when representing clients.

Kaushik is also an adjunct faculty member at The Lewis & Clark Law School and she sits on the Oregon State Bar’s IP Executive Committee.

Vice President - Aruna Masih

Aruna Masih is a partner with the law firm of Bennett Hartman LLP, where she practices civil rights and labor and employment law from the union/employee side. She earned her undergraduate degree cum laude in International Relations and French from Wellesley College and her law degree from Tulane University and Creighton University School of Law.

She chose her area of practice to promote human and civil rights and labor standards for all workers. Over the last twenty years, she has also been a part of her firm’s Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) team, representing the PERS Coalition of unions and public employees in their fight to preserve retirement benefits before the legislature and the courts.

She is a former Chair of the Labor and Employment Section and a regular presenter on PERS and labor and employment law issues. She also serves currently on the Board of Directors of the Multnomah Bar Association (MBA) and has served previously as Chair of the Oregon State Bar’s Advisory Committee for Diversity and Inclusion (ACDI) and on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Women Lawyers (OWLS), the Oregon Women Lawyers Foundation (OWLF), and the Oregon Minority Lawyers Association (OMLA).

Treasurer - Sunny Kakwani

As Your Counsel’s founder and principal attorney, Sunny provides a disruptive voice in an industry stagnated by convention. He established AYC’s model of personalized legal services + strategic business counseling after more than 10 years (and 10,000 hours) practicing on both coasts. AYC is a boutique business law practice dedicated to providing best-in-class representation across all of its focus areas through its unwavering subscription to its core values: empathy, integrity, caliber and community.

Sunny, born in New Delhi and raised in New York, discovered his passion for policy and advocacy early in life, which led him to Washington, DC in pursuit of his undergraduate degree in Business, Economics and Public Policy at George Washington University. That reverence evolved into practice while he studied law in Boston, MA at Suffolk University. In his free time Sunny enjoys pro bono work, mentoring, traveling, biking, yoga, meditation, coaching, playing basketball, golf and snowboarding.

Secretary - Judge Mustafa Kasubhai

Judge Mustafa Kasubhai (he/him) is a child of immigrants and he was born and raised in southern California. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1992, he attended UO Law and received his J.D. in 1996. Judge Kasubhai was appointed to the federal bench in 2018, following 11 years of service as a Lane County Circuit Court Judge.

Prior to joining the state bench, Judge Kasubhai practiced plantiff’s civil litigation throughout southern Oregon with offices in Eugene and Klamath Falls, Oregon and served as a member of the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board. Judge Kasubhai is the first Muslim American federal judge the country. His service as a U.S. Magistrate Judge, and prior service as state trial court judge and member of the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board, are marked by a deep dedication to access to justice, including a more diverse and representative legal community.

In a recent article featured in the OWLSAdvance Sheet, entitled "Pronouns and Privilege," Judge Kasubhai described his "own continuing journey, with all its stumbling and fumbling, toward equity." Along with attorney Sarah Malik, Judge Kasubhai also shared a poignant narrative on being a Muslim American in the Oregon legal community the Oregon State Bar Bulletin entitled, “Is There a Place for Us? On Being a Muslim American in Oregon’s Legal Community.” He is a founding member of the South Asian Bar Association of Oregon, and the Oregon Muslim Bar Association.

Director of Outreach/Community - Akriti Bhargava

Originally from Bangalore, India, Akriti is now a 3L at Lewis & Clark Law school, and is the President of LC's South Asian Law Student Association. In that role, she aims to bridge the gap between South Asian law students and attorneys so that law students' collective experiences may be richer and more cohesive as members of Portland's legal community.

She focuses on building and deepening community relationships in all her leadership roles, and to that end, serves as the President of LC Law's Student Bar Association, on the Oregon Judicial Diversity Coalition and the Oregon State Bar's Alternatives to the Bar Exam Taskforce. She is also a member of various other OSB and LC Law affinity organizations.

SABA Oregon has been a crucial touchstone for her in the Portland legal community, and she will pay particular attention to connecting SABA Oregon with other affinity bar associations and the Oregon State Bar as the Director of Outreach. Akriti is pursuing a dual certificate in Energy Law and International Law within her JD at Lewis & Clark Law School, and plans to pursue a career furthering a just transition to a sustainable economy. She is excited to be a member of the Oregon legal community!