The San Fernando Valley Bar Association (SFVBA) conferred its coveted "Judge of the Year” distinction to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Firdaus Dordi at the annual Judges’ Night on August 17, 2022. An editorial in the July 2022 issue of Valley Lawyer, the monthly publication of the 96-year-old SFVBA, one of the premier local bar associations in California, commended Dordi’s "dedication to public service, devotion to the law and its fair and equal application, and a love of community and country.” The write-up also quoted a former colleague who lauded Dordi’s "fortitude and moral compass,” describing him as "always kind…approachable…incredibly easy to work with…never ever short with anyone.”
Above and below: Judge Firdaus Dordi
The SFVBA that has individuals and law firms as members helps attorneys develop and improve their practice of law by providing networking and referral opportunities, continuing legal education, and discounted services. In a seven-page interview carried in Valley Lawyer, Dordi recalled his humble roots in a lower middle class neighborhood in Bombay, with six members of the family residing in a two-room apartment with communal toilets outside the block, no running water or geyser facility. When his father was posted as Air India’s assistant sales manager in New York, to prepare them for their US sojourn the two sons were sent to a Catholic, English-medium boarding school for a year. Dordi was nearly eight years old when the family took up residence in the Valley.
Originally planning to be an English professor, his study of international law convinced him to pursue a career in law. After a long stint in the Federal Public Defender’s Office starting as a deputy and ending his service there as the chief of the Los Angeles office’s Trial Unit, he was sworn in as a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge in 2017 (see "On the Superior Court,” Zoroastrians Abroad, Parsiana, April 21, 2017). As Dordi’s erstwhile boss had commented at his swearing-in, "Firdaus was an absolute institution when he was at the Federal Public Defender’s Office. And it was so bittersweet when he left the office because we all wanted the very best for him.”
On leaving the Public Defender’s Office he initially started a small firm with two partners but soon realized, "Even though I enjoyed private practice and the firm was very successful, on a personal level, I feel the greatest satisfaction in public service.”