By San Diego FBA Public Relations Committee Member Hannah Dubina
The San Diego FBA selected Rupa G. Singh as the recipient of the Outstanding Advocate Award at its 2023 Annual Conference & Award Ceremony.
The Outstanding Advocate Award recognizes an FBA member attorney, in any practice area, public or private, who has demonstrated outstanding advocacy and legal expertise while maintaining professionalism and civility over the course of her or his career. Eligibility for the award is based on legal work (such as trial work, appeals, and transactional successes) and the attorney’s contributions to the legal profession and/or the justice system.
Rupa G. Singh, who has practiced law for more than two decades in San Diego, is currently a partner at the appellate boutique Niddrie Addams Fuller Singh LLP. She graduated magna cum laude from New York University School of Law in 1999 and began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Irma E. Gonzalez (Ret.) of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. She then worked as a trial lawyer at two Am Law 100 firms, eventually attaining partnership. From 2010 through 2015, Ms. Singh served as an ethics law clerk to the Honorable M. Margaret McKeown of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and as a Ninth Circuit staff attorney. During her time with the Ninth Circuit, Ms. Singh assisted the U.S. Judicial Conferences Codes of Conduct Committee in issuing advisory opinions to guide judges on ethics issues. She then returned to private practice, co-chairing the appellate practice of a Midwest law firm before joining her present firm in 2017.
Ms. Singh maintains an active and diverse appellate practice, handling complex civil appeals in both state and federal court covering an array of practice areas, including employment law, catastrophic injury, civil rights, contracts, consumer fraud, unfair competition, class actions, insurance coverage, real estate, arbitration, and family law. Among her many successes, she has won a unanimous employment law victory in the California Supreme Court; achieved favorable settlements in a Ninth Circuit Section 1983 appeal and a Second Circuit banking fraud appeal; and achieved a published reversal of an anti-SLAPP motion. She also provides trial consulting services.
Ms. Singh has contributed significantly to the legal community and has worked tirelessly to promote the professional development of young and/or diverse attorneys. From 2002 to 2004, she served as founding president of the South Asian Bar Association of San Diego, and she has remained active in the organization in the ensuing years, currently serving on the advisory board. From 2004 to 2005, Ms. Singh was founding president of the Foundation of the National South Asian Bar Association. In 2016, she reestablished San Diego’s Appellate Inn of Court, serving as its founding president for two years. Ms. Singh also founded the Immigration Justice Project of San Diego. In addition, Ms. Singh has held leadership positions in numerous bar associations, serving as president of the San Diego FBA from 2007 to 2008, as a vice president of Lawyers Club of San Diego from 2010 to 2012, and presently as a board member of the Foundation of the San Diego FBA. She also has assisted in judicial selection as a commissioner of the California Judicial Nominees Evaluations Committee.
Ms. Singh has received numerous awards and honors, having been recognized by organizations including SuperLawyers®, Best Lawyers in America®, the Legal Aid Society, Casa Cornelia, the Lawyers Club, and the San Diego County Bar Association. She also received the FBA’s Elaine R. Boots Fisher Award for Exemplary Public Service in 2017. Ms. Singh regularly publishes and presents on a variety of topics, encompassing appellate practice and trends, common mistakes litigants make in trial court, civic engagement, the elimination of bias in the legal system, and Supreme Court jurisprudence.
The San Diego FBA is most pleased to award Ms. Singh with the 2023 Outstanding Advocate Award.