Indian-American Shampa Mukerji running for Civil District Court in Texas

- ADVERTISEMENT -

An Indian-American attorney is running for a judgeship in Harris County, Texas. Shampa Mukerji says she is running because she could make a “great contribution” to the civil courts, uphold the laws of the state and be fair and equitable to all parties.

The primary is scheduled for March 10, and on Facebook, Mukerji urged residents of Harris County to go to the polls to support her first attempt at elective office.

Mukerji says her immigrant parents instilled her with a strong work ethic, a thirst for knowledge and a tradition of excellence. A native Houstonian, Mukherji’s parents immigrated to the United States in the late 1960s. Her father was an engineer who spent his career in the Oil and Gas industry and earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy after he retired. Her mother, a college graduate, dedicated her time to raising their three children.

The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Mukerji’s opponent Cory Sepolio, a civil defense attorney. About Mukerji, the paper says, she “has an impressive and diverse background that includes growing up in Saudi Arabia, attending Northwestern University as an undergrad and working for the Mostyn Law Firm. However, she cannot match Sepolio’s trial experience.”

The winner of the Democratic primary will face off against incumbent Republican Judge Dan Hinde.

Mukerji has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications  from Northwestern University in Illinois. Mukerji got her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center where she served on the Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy as an Editor and as Chief Justice of the Honor Court.

She has a decade of experience in multiple areas of civil litigation according to the profile posted on her website. She formed the eponymous Mukerji Law Firm where she manages more than 500 personal injury cases, and believes her experience, and dedication fits the bill for Harris County Judge. ‘Over eight years of my legal career have been in civil litigation, often handling high-dollar cases. Throughout that time, I have only represented individuals and small businesses – first in family law, then first-party insurance litigation, and most recently in third-party insurance litigation,” Mukerji says on Facebook.

Her husband Sam Mukerji is a trial attorney and the couple has three children.

Born in Houston, Mukerji spent most of her childhood in California and abroad, and says she is a “true believer — that the Constitutions of the United States and Texas create an equal playing field for all individuals and entities, regardless of economic status, race, ethnicity, color, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender,” noting that she has represented “thousands of impoverished individuals who never had to pay myself or my firm until I was able to first recover financial restitution for the wrongs committed against them.”