Justice Shama Mesiwala '98 to Speak at Class of 2026 Commencement
UC Davis School of Law is pleased to announce that California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District Associate Justice Shama Mesiwala ’98 will deliver the keynote address at its Class of 2026 commencement on Saturday, May 9 at the Mondavi Center.
A devoted UC Davis Law alum and adjunct professor, Justice Mesiwala was confirmed to the Third District bench in early 2023 after six years on the Sacramento County Superior Court.
Justice Mesiwala has spent her career in public service. Post-law school, she represented indigent criminal defendants at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Sacramento and the Central California Appellate Program, where she argued cases before the California Supreme Court and California Courts of Appeal.
She then transitioned to the judiciary with attorney roles at the Third Appellate District. In 2017, Justice Mesiwala was appointed commissioner of the Sacramento Superior Court, and as a judge 10 months later. On the trial court, Justice Mesiwala presided over criminal and civil jury trials, civil bench trials, civil law and motion, civil settlement conferences, preliminary hearings, juvenile dependency, drug court, mental health hospital hearings, state hospital hearings, civil harassment restraining order hearings, collaborative courts, and small claims. She created Northern California’s first Indian Child Welfare Act courtroom and served as the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) judge for the Hall of Justice.
Active in the community, Justice Mesiwala has taught Appellate Advocacy to over 900 students at UC Davis Law over the past 13 years. She served as president of the Schwartz/Levi American Inn of Court. Co-founder of the South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento, Justice Mesiwala has hosted its annual Diversity Law Student Reception for the past 19 years. She also serves on the California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions.
Justice Mesiwala received the Unity Bar community service award, the Women Lawyers of Sacramento Frances Newell Carr Award, the King Hall Legal Foundation’s Judge of the Year award, and the Ally Award from Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ bar association, SacLegal. She received the Asian Bar Association of Sacramento’s president’s award, and was named a Sacramento Bee top 25 Asian American/Pacific Islander Change Maker.
A native Californian, Justice Mesiwala attended all public schools, graduating from UC San Diego magna cum laude in three years. She started law school at age 20.
Chancellor Gary May will speak and confer degrees at commencement, and UC Davis Law Dean Jessica Berg will serve as the ceremony’s emcee. Professor Aaron Tang is the faculty speaker. Dolph Li ’26 will be the J.D. student speaker and Lia Gurchiani, a December 2025 graduate, is the LL.M. student speaker.
Professors David Horton and Clay Tanaka will serve as faculty marshals.
Candace Britton '26 will receive the law school medal for highest J.D. academic achievement, and Natsuki Yoshikawa ’26 the medal for highest LL.M. academic achievement.