Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge is pleased to announce that attorneys Anurima Deshpande and Ali Fardoun have joined the firm’s Grand Rapids office.
Anurima is an associate attorney who was also a summer associate in the Grand Rapids office in the summer of 2018, when she drafted litigation materials and conducted legal research in a wide variety of areas.
Anurima earned her Bachelor of Arts from Fergusson College in Pune, India, where she majored in English Language and Literature. She also earned her Master of Arts degree from the same institution. In May 2019, she graduated from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana. During her time at Maurer, she served as an articles editor for Maurer’s flagship journal, the Indiana Law Journal, and was also an executive problem writer for the Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition in 2018.
Outside of the office, Anurima enjoys hiking, podcasts, tabletop games, and Chicago Blackhawks hockey.
Ali is an associate attorney in Smith Haughey Rice and Roegge’s Grand Rapids office. His practice is focused upon matters relating to commercial litigation, professional liability defense, and real estate law. Ali returns to Smith Haughey after having worked as a summer associate in 2018 in the firm’s Grand Rapids office. During that time, Ali conducted legal research and drafted memoranda on a variety of litigation matters. He also assisted the firm’s transactional practice group by drafting contracts relating to real property, including easements, licenses, and leases.
Ali earned his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in Economics from the University of Detroit Mercy, where he was a member of the men’s soccer team and the University’s Economics Club. Ali also completed an externship at the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection in Washington, D.C. during his last semester at U of D. He earned his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School, where he received a Board of Governor’s scholarship (full tuition) and served as an articles editor for the Journal of Law in Society. Ali also served as a student attorney at the Free Legal Aid Clinic, interned at the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan, and completed an externship at the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, for the Hon. George Caram Steeh.
Outside of the office, Ali enjoys spending time with family, studying history and technology, playing competitive sports, and cooking Lebanese cuisine.