The Hon. Rupa Searight Goswami was appointed to the bench by California Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. in 2013. Born in India, Goswami grew up in rural Ohio and Florida. Prior to joining the bench, she served as a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office for more than 11 years, where she earned the prestigious Director’s Award. As an AUSA, Goswami was recognized by former Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Humane Society for her work tackling cyber fraud, environmental crimes, child sex tourism and crimes involving endangered species. Prior to becoming a federal prosecutor, Goswami clerked for Justice Nora M. Manella, then a United States District Judge and for Judge Terence T. Evans of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She was also a litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. She holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a JD from the UCLA School of Law.

In addition to teaching at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, Goswami has taught at India’s National University for Juridical Science in Kolkata and traveled to Bangladesh to teach as part of the Department of Justice’s Overseas Prosecutorial Development and Training Program. She previously sat pro tem as a Justice on the California Court of Appeal and currently serves on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Judicial Selection Advisory Committee. A past co-president of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California (“SABA”), Goswami now serves on SABA-SC’s Steering Committee.