Set to appear for interview on September 17.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Rupen R. Shah, Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney for Augusta County, VA, might become the first Indian American judge in Virginia.
Shah is currently seeking to become a juvenile and domestic relations district judge in the state’s 25th Judicial Circuit.
He is set to appear before the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice and House Judicial Panel on September 17 at 2 pm.
The vacancy was created by the election of Charles Ricketts to circuit court.
“I have practiced in the courts of Virginia everyday for 17 years. I know the law, I know the process,” Shah said. “Given the opportunity I will make impartial and fair decisions based on the law and facts of the case.”
The veteran prosecutor has stellar legal resume.
He served on executive committee and council of Virginia State Bar and was recognized for his valuable service to the Virginia State Bar in 2014. He also served as chair of Diversity Conference of Virginia State Bar.
He was recognized by the Virginia State Bar as a local leader of the year 2009.
During 2008-2009, he served as president of the Augusta County Bar Association.
Shah, who has a law degree from Syracuse University, founded the nonprofit Valley Children’s Center, which helps law enforcement and Child Protective Services workers interview abused and neglected children.
The Indian American also has extensive experience in teaching law, having taught law at the Shenandoah Criminal Justice Academy and Blue Ridge Community College for six years. He has also taught at the Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Spring Institute and at the National District Attorney’s Association prosecutor’s boot camp.
He conducted seminars to give lawyers in the rural Shenandoah Valley easier access to continuing legal education.