Affinity Bar Series: South Asian American Bar Association of Michigan

Isheeta Patel Laxmanan, South Asian American BarAssociation of Michigan, joins us to discuss South Asian American Bar Association of Michigan (SABA), its founding and where it is headed.

Isheeta Patel Laxmanan is a patent attorney and shareholderat Brooks Kushman, where she focuses her practice on patent prosecution, portfolio management, and business-driven intellectual property solutions for her clients, ranging from Fortune 10 companies to startups.

Beyond her legal practice, Isheeta is an advocate fordiversity and inclusivity within and outside her firm. She has served on the board of SABA Michigan since 2015 and is currently its President, having previously held the role in 2018. She also serves on the Board of Directors for SABA North America and is both a past Fellow and Pathfinder of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). At Brooks Kushman, she serves on the DEI Committee, leading recruiting and pipeline initiatives, and emphatically supports associate development through mentorship.

Passionate about her community, Isheeta devotes time toprograms like Engineer Girl & Girl Scouts, introducing girls to science and IP, and FATE Detroit, helping Detroit high schoolers with college-readiness and building career skills. She was named an “Up & Coming Lawyer” by MichiganLawyers Weekly in 2023 and has been listed in Best Lawyers’ Ones to Watch since 2021. Isheeta has also maintained strong ties with her alma mater, the University of Michigan, by guest-lecturing on IP law and legal careers.

Tanya A. Grillo is the President of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan and a Director- National Conference of Women's Bar Associations. She was recently appointed to the Macomb County Circuit Court.

Before taking the bench, Judge Grillo was the Managed Assigned Counsel Coordinator for the city of Southfield.  From 2017-2018, she was the Regional Manager for the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC). In that capacity, she worked with all the courts in Lapeer, Macomb, Oakland and St. Clair Counties in the State of Michigan’s goal to reform the indigent defense system. She received a Juris Doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Central Florida.

Learn more about WLAM on our ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ and on our social media platforms ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠YouTube⁠, and ⁠Twitter⁠.  

WLAM supporters can sponsor the Working Towards NinePodcast. Sponsorship includes a 30-second promo, either audio created by the sponsor or ad copy read by the producer and the sponsor’s name cited in the show notes. Check out our website ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ to learn more and purchase a sponsorship.