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JIGISA PATEL-DOOKHOO is
Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo 50 50-YEARS OF JUDICIAL SERVICE To describe the most recent couple years in Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo’s life as a whirlwind would be an understatement of epic proportions.
Many people in the world went into a sort of hibernation during the pandemic. Not the Hon. Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo (Coleman Class, 2009).
Just since 2020, Patel-Dookhoo prepared for a traditional Indian wedding in the midst of the pandemic, had to pivot and reorganize everything due to the persistent Covid precautions, got married, rearranged honeymoon plans due to more Covid restrictions, embarked on building a home, continued excelling at her career as a prosecutor with the Florida State Attorney’s Office, prepared for two different intensive judicial nomination processes – and was appointed judge for the 18th Circuit Court serving Brevard and Seminole counties in east central Florida.
And that’s just for starters. In October, Patel-Dookhoo and her husband Raul Dookhoo (Senior Director of Information Systems for EBG), enjoyed a delayed honeymoon with a thrilling tour of Greece, Italy, France and Barcelona.
Patel-Dookhoo is part of a decades-old tradition at WMU-Cooley, joining hundreds of fellow graduates as a member of the bench. But she also stands out as a leader in another way, as the first female Indian American circuit court judge for the 18th Judicial Circuit for Brevard and Seminole counties.
Patel-Dookhoo, 40, was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to the 18th Circuit Court serving Brevard and Seminole counties. She took office July 5 and her term runs until January 2025.
July was a big month for Patel-Dookhoo. Four days after she took office, she turned 40 and her brother Tejash Patel surprised her by flying down from Maryland where he lives with his wife and three children. Tejash, who is the CEO of his own IT company, joined Jigisa and their parents for the celebration of her milestone birthday as well as her new job.
A LIFELONG DREAM
For Patel-Dookhoo, the judgeship is the realization of a lifetime dream. “I always knew I wanted to be a judge,” she recalled. In fact, she has known since middle school that she wanted a career in the law. It all started with her volunteer participation with the Brevard County Teen Court program through the State Attorney’s Office. In the program, students serve as volunteer prosecutors, public defenders, and jurors hearing cases and rendering decisions for actual juvenile’s opting for alternative sanctions versus a criminal record. After becoming a prosecutor, PatelDookhoo would later go on to become a volunteer judge in the same Teen Court program.
But her interest in the law preceded even that formal introduction. It was while sitting around the family kitchen table when she was 10 or 11, that PatelDookhoo became aware of systemic injustices her family had experienced. Her dad and mom, Bhikhubbhai and Kusumben Patel were discussing how landlords would get away with unfair treatment of immigrants, charging them more for rent among other issues. “What are you talking about? Why didn’t you report the landlord?” Patel-Dookhoo remembers asking, and her dad responded “Who is going to believe an immigrant?
Patel-Dookhoo said, “That broke my heart. It was a reality check. No one would listen to an immigrant.”
It was a lesson that stayed with her. When Patel-Dookhoo interviewed for her judicial post, she told the panel of attorneys, “I want people to know that they will be heard in my courtroom.”
And she definitely makes certain that everyone in her court is heard, she said. But she also makes sure that everyone knows what the process involves and what is needed. Presiding over Family Court in her first rotation with the circuit court, Patel-Dookhoo sees many people who are representing themselves. “I explain everything. Here are my expectations. Here is what I need.”
Previous to Patel-Dookhoo’s appointment to the bench, she served as an assistant state attorney in the 18th Judicial Circuit for 13 years in both Brevard and Seminole counties. She did her externship with the office and joined the staff fulltime immediately following her graduation from WMU-Cooley.
EXPLORING NEW WORLDS
Patel-Dookhoo was at the peak of her career with the State Attorney’s office in 2014, assigned to prosecuting capital crimes, when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arose hundreds of miles away in Virginia.
Blending her love of the law and her facility for technology, Patel-Dookhoo had an opportunity to become General Counsel for IT Concepts, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business in Arlington, Virginia. During her time there, she managed and negotiated federal contracts up to $100 million. In a testament to her commitment to transparency and loyalty, Patel-Dookhoo went to her boss who, over the years, had also become a friend, and asked his advice. He was honest and supportive. “He told me that, ‘If this was just a lateral move, I’d have you stay here – you fix every problem I throw at you. But this is huge for your career.’ ”
Her boss encouraged her to do the interview, assuring her that if she wanted to come back, the door would always be open.
Patel-Dookhoo took the job, serving for two years. She did what she set out to do, honing her Federal contracting skills and helping to get a groundbreaking business on the road to success.
“It was a wonderful experience,” she recalled. “I met attorneys from every walk of life. But something was missing – I wasn’t serving my purpose. I missed serving my community.”
BACK TO THE FRONTLINES IN FLORIDA
So she called her old boss at the State Attorney’s Office, and true to his word, he welcomed Patel-Dookhoo back.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said, laughing. “He took my call and exclaimed ‘You’re coming back!’”
She jumped right back into the fray, earning a guilty verdict co-prosecuting the office’s first-ever human trafficking case in Seminole County, Florida. At the same time, she simultaneously practice civil law (2015-2019) as a legal consultant for TAYS, Inc., where she managed contracts, employees, and subcontractors in the I.T. industry.
With the State Attorney’s Office, she served as the division chief for the Domestic Violence Unit and prior to that position as the intake attorney for both the Sex Crimes
and Child Abuse Unit and the Human Trafficking Unit.
Patel-Dookhoo is passionate about assisting victims of violent crimes, as well as protecting children, and has won awards for her work. She has also spoken frequently to Florida citizens about human trafficking.
Patel-Dookhoo credits her law school training for much of her success with the State Attorney’s Office. “I knew how to research,” she explained. “I could think on my feet and trust myself.”
A lifelong practice of taking notes longhand embeds information in PatelDookhoo’s mind for immediate retrieval during trial or even in conversation.
THE EARLY YEARS
The Patel family came to the United States from India, sponsored by PatelDookhoo’s maternal uncle, and settled in New Jersey where Jigisa was born. They moved from the Garden State to Florida when Jigisa and her brother were very young. Her parents owned and operated a small convenience store and it was there that the sense of community and responsibility for others was embedded.
That sense of belonging and involvement continues to this day. Patel-Dookhoo’s professional life includes service as an educator. She’s taught Business Law at Eastern Florida State College, instructed Brevard and Seminole County law enforcement officers in practical aspects of law affecting their jobs, and introduced young students to concepts about justice matters.
GIVING BACK
As a judge she plans to continue being out in the community, speaking as time allows, and presenting to groups – especially children.
It’s important, she explained, for young people to have role models – to see people doing things and having careers that they can aspire to. “I want them to see what they can accomplish. Kids mirror what they see.”
Patel-Dookhoo actually interviewed for two different judgeships. She made the short list for the first judgeship in Seminole County – an honor in itself. The process was valuable. She made many great contacts and left a lasting good impression and even provided some humor. A successful multi-tasker, Patel-Dookhoo was navigating the judicial nominating process simultaneously with her wedding preparations and the moment is memorialized in pictures. A year later, Patel-Dookhoo found herself immersed in the nomination process for the Brevard County judgeship and once again impressed the interviewers. And once again, it was Patel-Dookhoo’s agile ability to remember facts and cases learned at Cooley in Constitutional Law that helped set her apart from the competition.
Patel-Dookhoo is very education focused. “At a young age, it became clear to me that an education was important to obtain my goals.”
As focused as she is on making sure she gives back to the community and accomplishes good things, Patel-Dookhoo didn’t realize until recently how much her hard work and subsequent success has meant to her community, family, and friends.
“After I became a judge, my parents and I went to a Hindu Temple called Mandir. Everyone was there and I remember telling my mother ‘You did NOT prepare me for this!’ They were all praying for me. They were all in tears and hugging me, since they’ve known me as a child. I didn’t know what I meant to people,” she said, humbled by the outpouring. “This is huge for all of us. I didn’t know I could have that impact on my family, friends and community.”
“My photographer got a photo of me taking notes (for her upcoming Judicial Nominating Committee interview) while I was getting my hair and makeup done on my
wedding day!” JIGISA PATEL-DOOKHOO
Cooley Law School
50-YEAR TRADITION OF INCLUSION
50In the beginning, it was enough, and even groundbreaking, for Cooley’s founder, the late Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Brennan Sr., to focus on welcoming all applicants without regard to any criteria other than their ability to succeed in the law.
“When Cooley was founded, it was all about access,” explained Jacqueline Freeman, Senior Director and Special Adviser to the President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It was, she continued, “all about giving people the opportunity to study the law.” Echoing Brennan’s heartfelt axiom, Freeman noted that “the practice of law should not be an elitist profession.”
As a result, Cooley has always had a diverse student population. Freeman noted, “Our mission is to foster an inclusive culture at WMU-Cooley Law School where all forms of diversity are valued. We are committed to inclusion across race, color, ethnicity, national and regional origins, citizenship, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, socioeconomic and employment status, age, experience, disability, military status and religious, political, cultural and intellectual ideologies and practices and others. The legal profession must be reflective of our society.”
After some time, however, it became clear that it wasn’t enough to just be diverse and inclusive. Instead, Cooley thought leaders determined, it was time to proactively teach about implicit bias and how the school could mitigate its harmful effects, increase cross-cultural competency, and address systemic inequalities. The directives weren’t just about making the law school setting a better place, but about training future attorneys how to better serve their clients when they got into practice, Freeman explained. Even with all their work, Freeman (Reid Class, 2006) said that they know they can’t solve all the problems of bias and discrimination. Instead, she explained that they are “equipping students to be agents of change.”
Long before the American Bar Association formulated new rules for law schools regarding diversity education requirements, Cooley was forging ahead with plans and events to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion (often known as DEI) into the curriculum from students’ first day of class.
Freeman credits the leadership of Cooley President and Dean James McGrath for making diversity, equity, and inclusion education a priority; Professor Monica Nuckolls for her leadership of the Faculty DEI Committee; and Associate Dean and Professor Tonya Krause-Phelan for her commitment and guidance in implementing these changes.
On a day-to-day basis, Freeman is at the helm of initiatives to ensure that Cooley maintains a solid and innovative presence in DEI. Her work with DEI is well-respected in the legal community. She serves on the State Bar of Michigan’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, as vice chair of the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs DEI Committee, on the Michigan Supreme Court DEI Commission, and on the Ingham County Bar Association DEI Committee, among other related professional groups.
One of the initiatives that Freeman has overseen at Cooley has been trainings on implicit bias for students, staff and faculty. Even the pandemic couldn’t slow them down. Cooley administrators simply moved their in-person training online and participants were able to easily interact with each other in both large- and smallgroup sessions.
Helping to make the diversity dream continue to grow is a 29-member DEI Committee comprised of a cross section of Cooley faculty and staff. True to its mission, the DEI Committee wants all voices heard. “Diversity is everyone’s job,” Freeman said. “We have to work collaboratively.”
Among the many programs furthering the DEI mission at Cooley are faculty roundtables to discuss ways of infusing DEI concepts into all levels of the curriculum, an elective class on MultiCultural Lawyering led by Cooley Professor Mable Martin-Scott and retired Professor Kimberly O’Leary, a book titled Multi-Cultural Lawyering by MartinScott and O’Leary, a two-day conference on multicultural lawyering, a faculty roundtable on interrupting bias in the classroom, and more.
Many of the initiatives carry a global message – how can the profession do better in this area overall. But organizers at Cooley have not forgotten the power of one-on-one connections either. The school created a dedicated email address – diversity@cooley.edu - for those interested in asking questions or voicing concerns about any aspect of diversity, equity and inclusion issues.
