Mr. Malviya goes to Washington

by Cynthia Price Legal News In what must have been a frustrating roller coaster ride, local Miller Johnson attorney Raj Malviya flew off to Washington DC only to find out he would be unable to carry out what he went there to do. The current chair of the Grand Rapids Bar Association Young Lawyers Section, Malviya has achieved a lot in his young life. And it was due to one of his achievements that he was invited to visit Washington as part of a welcoming party for India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Malviya, who was born in the United States of Indian descent, was responsible for starting up the South Asian Bar Association of Michigan and is currently its president. As such, he is on the board of the North American South Asian Bar Association (SABA). The Obama Administration's Office of Public Engagement arranged invitations for the SABA board members to the outdoor greeting ceremony to be held on the south lawn of the White House Nov. 24. According to the White House statement about the event, "This visit will be the first state visit of the administration and will highlight the strong and growing strategic partnership between the United States and India, and the friendship between the American and Indian people." Excited to be part of such an exciting event, and on short notice, Malviya booked a flight to Washington DC. Travel was "on our own dime," Malviya said, but a good number of the board members made the trip. Then at 6:00 a.m. on the 24th came a call: the outdoor ceremony was cancelled; an indoor ceremony would take its place. It had rained all night and the lawn had become too damp, so the administration decided to move the ceremony to the East Room of the White House, which was not large enough to accommodate the members of the North American SABA delegation. The group was unsure what was going on so they proceeded to the White House, and were able to get past the first gate to meet with people in the administration. Their spokesperson was Kalpen Modi, who under the name Kal Penn starred as Kumar in the Harold and Kumar film series, among other roles. The disappointed young attorney decided to make the most of the experience. The group was in an area just outside the security check point, so they were able to mingle at length with influential people of the Indian community. Most impressive for Malviya was meeting Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the chief medical correspondent for CNN and commentator for other media, who is originally from Novi near Detroit. Gupta had been President Obama's choice for Surgeon General, but ultimately he declined, based on family and career considerations. Though Malviya was disappointed at the turn of events in DC, he says, "I'm generally just a positive person, so I took the positives from the trip." The opportunity to make contacts was enough for him. Malviya's positive outlook and networking capacity have made him the object of media interest before. Super Lawyers featured an article about him when he was selected as Michigan Rising Star in 2009, his second year on the list. The article was called "The Networker." (It can be found at http://www.superlawyers. com/michigan/article/ The-Networker/b05bae 15-d14c-48af-8085-4a63b06de337.html.) Malviya credits a presentation he heard at the Young Lawyers Section a few years ago both for piquing his interest and confirming what he already sensed. Steve Heacock, attorney and former county commissioner, stressed the life-long benefits of friendly and collegial relationships when starting out. That attitude has stood him in good stead as an office and now president of the section. He has been effectively promoting the section for years - not bad for someone who did not realize he wanted to be a lawyer until he had gone through four years of college. Coming from a family of doctors and engineers, it was not until Malviya finished at Hope College that he decided to continue in law. He attended Valparaiso University for his J.D., and is in the process of obtaining his LLM in Taxation Law from Northwestern. Malviya's trip to the White House notwithstanding, he plans to continue intensive community involvement as well as the SABA connections, even though most of the other Michigan SABA lawyers are from the South East side of the state. He says he is most grateful to be practicing law in Grand Rapids. His advice to other young lawyers? "Do as much as you can to establish yourself as a good attorney but don't limit it to your day-to-day work; it includes your presence in the community, your involvement." Published: Wed, Dec 16, 2009

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