RUPA G. SINGH

 

Email:    rsingh@appealfirm.com
Phone:   858.699.7278

Rupa G. Singh, a certified appellate specialist, handles appeals, writs, and critical motions in state and federal court. Her practice focuses on judicial and arbitration disputes involving, among other areas, employment law, unfair competition, consumer fraud, putative class and PAGA claims, bad faith denial of coverage, real estate law, catastrophic injury, and family law. Representative matters include a unanimous employment law victory in the California Supreme Court; settlements in a Ninth Circuit Section 1983 appeal and a Second Circuit banking fraud appeal; pending arbitration and military construction appeals in the Ninth Circuit; a real estate appeal in the Eleventh Circuit; appeals from anti-SLAPP rulings; writs in employment and consumer fraud matters, including a certified class action against Apple; preparing counsel for Ninth Circuit argument in complex federal banking and putative class action appeals; successfully defending an interlocutory federal appeal under the Class Action Fairness Act; and assisting a JAMS arbitrator in adjudicating technology licensing, disability, legal malpractice, and patent infringement disputes.   Rupa has been recognized by Super Lawyers® in Appellate Law, Best Lawyers® In America, and San Diego Magazine Top Women Lawyers, and has also received awards for her distinguished leadership and pro bono advocacy. She has private, judicial, big-law, and pro bono experience, such as co-chairing a mid-size firm’s Appellate Practice; clerking for Judge M. Margaret McKeown of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Chief Judge Irma E. Gonzalez (Ret.) of the Southern District of California; presenting appeals for adjudication as a staff attorney at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; litigating sophisticated, high-stakes matters at two prestigious Am Law 100 firms; and representing indigent individuals through the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program and Casa Cornelia.

An engaged community leader, Rupa was the Founding President of the San Diego Appellate Inn of Court; Chair of the County Bar’s Appellate Practice Section; Founding President of South Asian Bar Association of San Diego; President of the Federal Bar Association of San Diego; and Vice-President of the Lawyers Club of San Diego. She also chaired the ABA’s Immigration Justice Project of San Diego through its launch; was appointed to serve on the prestigious California Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission; and volunteers as a Girl Scouts Senior Troop Leader. Rupa publishes and speaks regularly on topics ranging from Supreme Court jurisprudence and appellate trends to the elimination of bias and developing leadership skills. Rupa is married to a telecommunications engineer, and the proud mother of three.
Education

Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, New York University School of Law, 1999
Student Note Published at 74 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1741 (1999)

Bachelor of Arts, English and International Relations, summa cum laude, University of Pennsylvania, 1996

Awards and Recognition

2020-2022 Super Lawyers® Top 25 Women Lawyers in San Diego

2020-2022 Super Lawyers® Top 50 Lawyers in San Diego

2018-2022 The Best Lawyers® in America

2016-2022 Super Lawyers®, Appellate Law

2020 Casa Cornelia Pro Publico Award

2019 Lawyers Club Community Service Award

2017 Federal Bar Association Elaine R. "Boots" Fisher Service Award

2015 Legal Aid Society of San Diego Appellate Self-Help Clinic Co-Founder’s Award

2012 South Asian Bar Association of San Diego Founder’s Award

2009 ABA Immigration Justice Project Founder’s Award

2007 San Diego County Bar Association Service to Diversity Award

2005 National South Asian Bar Association Foundation Founder's Circle Award

Recent Publications and Presentations

Publications

Appeals in the Time of Corona, Winter 2021 ABTL Report 

Heroes Never Die: A Dissent from RBG's Death, Feb. 2021 American Inns Bencher Magazine 

Words Matter, Especially Ours as Lawyers, Winter 2020 California Litigation Journal


Heroes Never Die: How RBG Can Live On, Winter 2020 ABTL Report

Words Matter, Perhaps Especially Ours as Lawyers, Fall 2020 The Federal Lawyer

Trial Courts: The Best Place to Win Your Appeal, 2020 Spring ABTL Report 

Holiday Tips From & A Tip of the Hat to The Rutter Guide on Civil Appeals, 2019 ABTL Report 

Bond Comma Appeal, Not Bond Comma James, Fall 2018 ABTL Report 

Make Good Law, Not History, Spring 2018 ABTL Report

The First 100 Days of An Appeal: A Fine-Tuned Machine, Spring 2017 ABTL Report

Brevity, Timing, Motions, and Amicus: Key Amendments to FRAP, Winter 2016 ABTL Report

Eat, Pray, Appeal: Lessons in Discovery & Appellate Strategy, Summer 2015 ABTL Report 

Forfeiture at the Pleading Stage: Ask Permission First, Don’t Apologize Later, Winter 2014 California Litigation Journal (co-author)

In Women’s Advancement Lies the World’s Future, 2013 Lawyers Club-San Diego Newsletter 

Presentations

The Art and Science of Remote Oral Argument, Orange County Bar Association, 2022

Appellate Advocacy in the Age of Coronavirus, ABTL Seminar, 2021

Demystifying Federal Appellate Practice, FBA Ninth Circuit Seminar, 2019 

The House That Scalia Didn’t Build: October 2015 Term, Hahn Loeser & Parks, 2016 

Supreme Court Roundtable: October 2014 Term, USD Law School, 2015  

Obamacare to Gay Marriage: What is the Roberts Court Up To? Gomez Attorneys, 2015 

Eagle Talons & Anthropomorphic Cars: Portrait of a 9th Circuit Staff Attorney, SDCBA, 2015 
 
Forfeiture: A Four -Letter Word in the Court of Appeal, CA State Bar Convention, 2014  

Appellate Perspectives on Class Actions, Consumer Attorneys of SD Symposium, 2014  

To Appeal or Not to Appeal, Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego, 2012  

Introduction to Federal Civil Procedure, San Diego County Bar Association, 2010
  
Ins & Outs of Contract Litigation, National South Asian Bar Association Convention, 2009