Curriculum Vitae for Vishal Chander

Vishal Chander is a graduate of Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, Texas and admitted to practice law in the states of Texas and New York.  After completing law school, Vishal clerked for the Honorable Rogelio Valdez, Chief Justice of the the Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Vishal enjoys a number of practice specialties, including:

Business and Commercial Law
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law
Copyright & Trademark Law
Corporate Governance and Securities Litigation
Employment and Benefits Law
Entertainment Law
International Business Transactions
Immigration Law
Taxation

 

 

 

 

Education

Southern Methodist University School of Law
 Dallas, Texas
September 1999 - May 2002

University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
June 1995 - May 1998

University of North Texas (Texas Academy of Math and Science)  
Denton, Texas
August 1993 - May 1995

Work Experience

Court of Appeals, Thirteenth District of Texas
 Corpus Christi, Texas
June 2003 - June 2004

As Judicial Law Clerk under Chief Justice Rogelio Valdez, I was responsible for substantive legal research and drafting of court opinions and orders for several Justices. My case load included state and federal civil, criminal, and constitutional issues. All of the cases I was assigned were among the court's most difficult. Most cases involved issues of first impression either in Texas or the United States.

Texas Workforce Commission Appeals Tribunal
Austin, Texas
March 2003 - June 2003

Hearing Officer (Administrative Law Judge) responsible for presiding over unemployment benefit appeals cases. Generally hear four to seven cases per day and issue a written opinion within three days from the date of the hearing. Duties included overseeing the proceeding, conducting examination, cross-examination, and redirection of witnesses under administrative guidance of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

Ron Kirk for Texas
Dallas, Texas
September 2002 - November 2002

Research Assistant and Voting Rights Attorney with a 2002 United States Senatorial campaign. Provided legal and non-legal research to campaign organizers on a variety of issues including consumer law, nursing home abuse, criminal procedure, and death penalty issues. Conducted legal research on voting rights and Texas election law. Responsible for the collection and organization of Texas state-wide election irregularities. Directed the elections legal team on problem districts and recommended courses of action.

Travelocity.com
Fort Worth, Texas
September 2001 - December 2001

Provided legal research for in-house counsel for one of the most well-known online travel services companies.  During this informal internship, I conducted legal research on a variety of issues relating to contract and corporate law.

Legal Aid of Central Texas
Austin, Texas
June 2001 - August2001

Law clerk with legal services corporation providing free legal services to low income clients in 16 counties throughout central Texas. Some of my accomplishments while working in the Housing Unit include: drafting demand letters for recovery of client housing deposits; negotiation with housing management in eviction proceedings; presentation of oral arguments before an administrative body; drafting complaints and motions for submission before the court; and investigation of housing discrimination claim. I conducted legal research on HUD regulation interpretation, Texas statute of limitations, penalties arising out of secured transactions, and water rights for a Texas colonia (communities existing in administrative no-mans land, which often lack access to public utilities).

Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
May 2000 - August 2000

The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) is the nations largest organization providing legal services, community education, and civil rights support to Asian Pacific Americans. APALC is recognized for its community response during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, its work against sweatshop working conditions, and for its role in implementing anti-hate crime laws in California. During the Summer 2000, I worked as Law Clerk for the Voting Rights/Anti-Discrimination Unit of APALC and focused specifically on employment discrimination, hate crimes, and police misconduct issues. I provided direct legal services through client intake, counseling, and follow-up. I was assigned substantial legal research and writing projects. I also helped to organize a number of community outreach events including a Justice for Wen Ho Lee Rally, the Long Beach Hate Crimes Seminar, and the CommUNITY Candlelight Vigil Against Hate.

Boies and Schiller, L.L.P.
Washington, D.C.
January 1999 - May 1999

Case Manager at a high profile international arbitration and commercial litigation law firm. The firm is famous for its two founding partners Jonathan Schiller, renowned for his experience in international arbitration, and David Boies, best know as the lead attorney in the Microsoft anti-trust suite. I was responsible for management of several multi-million dollar cases.  I also aided in the integration of a fully searchable electronic document database and image retrieval system. 

National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
Washington, D.C.
September 1998 - December 1998

Intern with Asian Pacific American public policy and civil rights advocacy group. Researched H-1B Visa Immigration Legislation. Analyzed state and federal Language Rights statutes, including bilingual access in the courts. Monitored Hate Crime incident, statutes, and legislation. Wrote legislative alerts and press releases. Attended congressional hearings and represented the consortium at Coalition meetings. Contributed to the 1997 Anti-Asian Violence Audit. Organized community outreach handbook. Conducted Layout and Published articles in The NAPALC Review, a national newsletter. Laid foundation of Consortium 105th Congressional Voting guide, by conglomerating the voting records of senators and congressmen for a number of issues relevant to the Asian Pacific American Community.

Texas Union Council
University of Texas at Austin
Approximate hours per week: 10 - 20

Assistant Coordinator for the primary event programming body at the University of Texas at Austin. As Assistant Coordinator, I aided in the management of 17 programming committees and the supervision of three special events committees in order to provide social, recreational, and educational programming for the student body at the University of Texas. Duties included: Management and oversight of over 20 groups. Assistance in chairing weekly meetings. Advertising, Publicity and Public Relations management.  Strategic Planning, Cost Management, and Budget Allocation.

Research Experience

Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
January 1997 - May 1997

Participated in the testing of an alpha-stage chart recording software called Biobench. The software was being developed to replace the existing non-computer based recorders in an effort to provide a more economic, reliable, and accurate method to record and manipulate data. Testing of the software required the engineering of components to allow older physiological measurement hardware to interface with modern PC’s. The hope of the project was to produce a PC based chart recording software friendly to a teaching environment.  The software is now being marketed by National Instruments.

Center for Materials Characterization, University of North Texas
Denton, Texas
June 1994 - August 1994

In conjunction with the Fort Worth Automation and Robotics Research Institute, participated in the development of Liquid Metal Jetting (LMJ) technology. LMJ technology allows for the deposit of metals and conductive polymers onto various substrates through controlled droplets of up to 100 micrometers utilizing technology similar to ink jet printing. LMJ will produce metal parts on demand from a CAD database with functional performance parameters similar to metal parts produced by machining or casting. By controlling solidification rates and metal alloy composition, LMJ is able to produce parts with unique properties such as metal matrices and functionally graded materials.  Duties were to assess the quality of materials after running through the LMJ prototype. Detected a contaminating element during the characterization procedures. Results of work were presented in a paper and at several conferences. Received an Undergraduate Research Scholarship and commendation by the Westinghouse Talent Search.

Organizations and Leadership Positions

Asian American Law Students Association, Vice President
Southern Methodist University School of Law

As Vice President of the SMU AALSA, my duties include presenting local and national issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community to our organization.  I act as liaison between AALSA and the Dallas Asian American Bar Association.  

Asian Relations Committee, President
University of Texas at Austin
Approximate hours per week: 7 - 10

The Asian Relations Committee developed out of the necessity for the establishment of an Asian American Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin. Through a diligent student movement, the University conceded to the creation of the program. Duties included: Mobilization of grassroots student movement. Organized forums, educational events, rallies, and meetings. Acted as liaison between students and University administration. Initiated community outreach projects. Conducted mass publicity campaign including writing press releases and worked with television and newspaper media.

Texas Union Council, Committee Member
University of Texas at Austin
Approximate hours per week: 2 - 5

Member of several committees including Asian Culture Committee, International Awareness Committee, and Multiculturalism Taskforce. Chaired several programming events including: Asian American Poetry Night, Nexus Dance, Unity Picnic. Aided in the organization of many other events. Created advertising and publicity campaigns, including work with graphic arts design software Freehand 7.0 and Adobe PhotoShop 4.0.

Residence Hall Association, Treasurer
University of North Texas
Approximate hours per week: 5 - 10

The duty of the Residence Hall Association was to create improved living environment for the physical and emotional well being of University students. Duties included maintenance of dormitory financial records through Lotus 123 database. Provided event programming for the residents. Awarded Outstanding RHA Officer 1995 and programming award for Best Multicultural Event 1995.

Speaking Events

"Preserving the American Dream": Hate Crimes, the Law, and the Logic Behind Them
Dallas, Texas
November 2001

Host and primary organizer of a panel discussion regarding the increase in hate crimes following September 11, 2001 and a legal analysis of the pros and cons of anti-hate crime legislation. Participants included Larry Jarrett, Assistant U.S. Attorney; Darren Hutchinson, Professor of Constitutional Law; Joel Brooks, Executive Director, American Jewish Congress; Victor Abousaid, Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee; and Federal Magistrate Judge Jane Boyle.

Asian Pacific American Legal Scholars Workshop
Marin, California
August 2001

Presented work-in-progress before panel of law professors, including Neil Gotanda, Keith Aoki, and Robert Chang.

East of California Conference
 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
October 1998

Panelist at one of the largest Asian American Studies academic conferences. Presented the paper "South Asian Americans in UT’s Asian American Movement: Dilemma to the Definitions," during a session entitled Remapping Asian American Geographies.

American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, National Conference
Dallas, Texas
June 1998

Panelist speaking on Indian American political activism.

Published Materials

"Reconstructing Race: Paradigm Shifts and Rearticulation in the Creation of Indian American Racial Movements" recently withdrawn from journal due to editorial neglect.

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