- About
About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 120-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
- Academics
Academics
Learn about our interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and specialized areas.
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- Admissions
Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
- Students
Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
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- Careers
Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
- Faculty
Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
- Alumni and Giving
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Ruchi Desai
USC Gould School of Law
- FACULTY DIRECTORY
- LECTURERS IN LAW DIRECTORY
- EXPERTS DIRECTORY
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- SCHOLARSHIP AND PUBLICATIONS
- DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
- + CENTERS AND INITIATIVES
- CENTER FOR LAW AND PHILOSOPHY (CLP)
- CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (CLASS)
- CENTER FOR LAW, HISTORY AND CULTURE (CLHC)
- CENTER FOR TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND BUSINESS (CTLB)
- INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM INSTITUTE (IRI)
- PACIFIC CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS
- SAKS INSTITUTE FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW, POLICY, AND ETHICS
- + WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

Lecturer in Law
699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA
Last Updated: July 10, 2020
Ruchi Desai is a strategic business leader, legal professional and educator. She has over 10 years of professional experience in finance, law, strategy, and operations. She has held leadership positions at dynamic start-ups, philanthropic organizations, and mature companies. Desai is uniquely skilled at growing talented teams, creating cross-functional synergies, building companies with efficient infrastructure and fostering collaborative, high-achieving cultures.
Desai is the vice president of strategy and general counsel at interface rehab, inc., one of the largest rehab services providers in California. In her current role she leads strategic initiatives, including new business development and M&A, compliance and litigation. In Q4 2018, interface doubled the facilities it served and headcount. Desai also serves as an independent consultant helping companies scale quickly and enter new markets. At Ruggable, she oversaw the company’s growth from 130 to 500 employees and build of a new manufacturing plant in Chicago. She currently provides legal counsel and review of SAAS and vendor agreements at Business Insider and teaches courses on business and contract drafting at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law.
Previously, Desai co-founded an IoT start-up building a smart jewelry product grounded in the enduring connections between people, their own selves and the world around them. She has practiced as an intellectual property attorney for two years and is barred in both New York and California. Prior to her legal career, Desai spent two years trading credit default swaps at a market-neutral fund based out of New York.
Desai holds an LLM, specializing in intellectual property, from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a JD from Harvard Law School and bachelor’s degrees in finance and international studies from, respectively, the Wharton School and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
Law 360
May 20, 2022
Re: Thomas Lenz
Thomas Lenz was quoted in a story about Apple Store union organizers hoping to be as successful in unionizing as Starbucks workers. He said employers need to be aware of how fast news travels between different store locations. "It is completely foreseeable that employees in vastly different locations will be in touch and tracking what's going on and perhaps trying to coordinate their efforts in the best way to get a win if they're seeking representation," Lenz said. Story is behind paywall.
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Ariela Gross
March, 2022
“Becoming Free, Becoming Black: Race, Freedom, and Law in Cuba, Virginia, and Louisiana,” Centre International de Recherches sur les Esclavages at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France.
Camille Gear Rich
March, 2022
“No More Boxes to Check: Imagining The Anti-Racist Law Firm,” NALP Annual Education Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Thomas D. Lyon
March, 2022
“Disclosure Among Child Abuse Victims” (with K. London and M. Eisen), Fourth Zoom Psychology and Law Symposium: Children in Legal Settings, Maastrict University, Maastricht, Netherlands.