Dhruti Patel
Dhruti Patel is an Associate at Wilkinson Stekloff. Before joining the firm, Dhruti was a Law Clerk to Judge Laurie J. Michelson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and a Litigation Associate at Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C.
Dhruti attended the University of Michigan Law School, where she was a Notes Editor for the Journal of Law Reform. During law school, she served as President of the South Asian Law Students Association and as President for the Michigan chapter of the International Refugee Assistance Project. As a law student, Dhruti served as a Student Attorney in the Worker’s Rights Clinic, where she successfully led the defense of her client in an unemployment-fraud case and appeared before a Michigan state court for oral argument.
Dhruti maintains an active pro bono practice, representing clients in trial and appellate matters. Most recently, following an administrative evidentiary hearing, she secured significant financial and educational support under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Specific Learning Disabilities. She also helped a client obtain asylum following a hearing in immigration court and won vacatur and remand of a district court order denying a client in forma pauperis privileges by Sixth Circuit unanimous precedential opinion.
Education
- Law: University of Michigan Law School, J.D., cum laude (2020); Certificate of Merit in Torts
- Undergraduate: Indiana University, B.A., with highest distinction (2017)
Clerkship
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Judge Laurie J. Michelson, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (2021-2023)
Notable Matters
- Member of the trial team representing the NFL and its 32 member clubs in a class action brought by residential and commercial subscribers of NFL Sunday Ticket in the Central District of California. Plaintiffs sought over $21 billion in damages post-trebling as well as injunctive relief that would undermine the NFL’s entire broadcast model. Secured judgment as a matter of law for the NFL on all claims following a jury trial.
- Filed complaint against the NYC Department of Education for denying appropriate educational accommodations to a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Specific Learning Disabilities. Presented oral argument and witness testimony at an administrative hearing against the DOE, resulting in the Hearing Officer granting all requested relief, including tuition reimbursement for private school and literacy tutoring.
- Won vacatur and remand of district court order denying client in forma pauperis privileges by unanimous precedential opinion. On remand, the district court granted appellant IFP status.
- Secured victory for an immigrant seeking asylum following a brutal attack by state actors on account of the client’s sexual orientation. Drafted pre-hearing brief and presented closing argument during asylum hearing.
Publications
- Policing Corporate Conduct Toward Minority Communities: An Insurance Law Perspective on the Use of Race in Calculating Tort Damages, 53 U. MICH. J. L. REFORM 227 (2019).