iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Amish Doshi made history on January 15 as the first South Asian and Indian American man to serve as a judge in Queens, New York.
Immigrating from India as a child, Doshi was formally inducted into the Civil Court of New York City, surrounded by colleagues, community members, friends, family, and elected officials.
“Words cannot express the honor and how humble I feel as I stand here before you as a judge of the Civil Court of New York City,” Doshi told Queens Daily Eagle.
“If in 1982 when I first came to this country, when I was 10 years old, somebody said that I would be standing here as the first South Asian man to be elected [as a judge] in Queens, I would have called them delusional, at best,” he said.
A tax lawyer and certified public accountant, Doshi was initially nominated for a judicial position ahead of the 2024 Democratic primary but wasn’t elected. However, after a new law passed last year expanded Civil Court positions, Doshi was nominated once more and secured enough votes to be elected in November.
During the induction, Doshi was praised for his work ethic and dedication as both a lawyer and a community leader. State Senator John Liu highlighted Doshi’s hard work, noting his background as an accountant who attended night school to earn his law degree, as well as his tireless campaigning.
Doshi’s appointment marks a significant milestone not only for him but also for the South Asian community in Queens, which has long advocated for greater representation on the bench. This progress was acknowledged by the South Asian Indo-Caribbean Bar Association, of which Doshi is a founding member. President Ali Najmi reflected on the organization’s growth, noting that when it was established six years ago, there was only one judge of South Asian descent in Queens. Now, with Doshi’s induction, that number has grown.
“Now we are boasting five more judges who have been elected to our membership, and that includes Amish, the first Indian male to be elected to the bench,” Najmi said.
Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, the first Indian-American elected to city government, also celebrated the historic moment, expressing his pride in Doshi’s achievement.
While much of the praise was directed at Doshi, the recognition was also extended to his mother, who immigrated from India with two young children in the 1980s. “I owe it all to my mother,” Doshi said, drawing a standing ovation for her. “I owe an unmeasurable amount of gratitude to her wisdom, her courage, her sacrifices, her strength and resilience…She had struggled and sacrificed everything for the both of us, and that is unmeasurable.”
(Photo courtesy: Doshiforjudge/Facebook)
