“Celebrating talented women inspires girls to be future community and business leaders, and shows us what’s possible when we support women in achieving their goals.”
Partner and head of Phoenix law firm Coppersmith Brockelman’s Election and Political Law practice, Roopali Desai is a leading election lawyer in Arizona. She advises clients on all aspects of election law, including campaign finance compliance, disclosure and reporting requirements, and bringing and defending election challenges. She is especially known for her experience representing initiative, referendum and recall campaigns, and has served as legal counsel for numerous successful statewide and local measures.
Prevailing in 11 lawsuits related to Arizona’s 2020 general election, Desai worked tirelessly defending election challenges, ensuring compliance with campaign finance laws, and successfully representing Smart and Safe Arizona (Prop. 207) and Invest in Education (Prop. 208). Her efforts in drafting Prop. 207’s language and revising it after meeting with company executives, criminal justice advocates, first responders and others resulted in her being named one of Business Insider’s 11 power players shaping Arizona’s new, potentially multi-million-dollar recreational cannabis market, while her peers selected her for the recognition of Best Capitol/Political Lawyer in the Arizona Capitol Times 2021 Best of the Capitol Awards.
Meanwhile, Best Lawyers in America© selected Roopali as 2021 Phoenix Civil Rights Law “Lawyer of the Year,” and Chambers USA welcomed her into their ranks in the area of General Commercial Litigation. Additionally, she has earned recognition in Southwest Super Lawyers since 2014, and in Best Lawyers every year since 2016.
Yet, while achieving career highs during a banner year, Desai also received Valle del Sol’s 2021 Mom of the Year award for dedicating countless hours of service to the community and being an exemplary mother of three daughters. She serves on the boards of several high-profile nonprofit organizations, including the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest and Save Our Schools Arizona, and also commits a significant amount of time to pro bono legal work relating to children in Arizona’s foster system, issues of voting rights, and fairness and equality in public education.
Whether representing pro bono, political or business clients, Desai’s creative, strategic and dogged approach yields outstanding results. Her business clients rely on her extensive litigation experience when they need help resolving disputes in a variety of areas, including contracts, business and partnership disputes, trade secrets, and enforcement actions. Likewise, the many female ASU and University of Arizona law students, younger attorneys and peers she mentors find her sage counsel and seasoned suggestions invaluable in helping them realize their dreams.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies and master’s degree in Public Health from University of Arizona, Desai helped develop service programs for abused and neglected children at the Southern Arizona Children’s Advocacy Center and for domestic violence survivors at Brewster Center. She came to realize the strength of the American legal system and went back to University of Arizona to obtain her law degree. While in law school, Desai co-founded a nonprofit, Saheli, which educated attorneys, judges and other legal professionals about cultural barriers affecting women in situations of family abuse and violence.
Organization Name: Coppersmith Brockelman, PLC
Main Office Address: 2800 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona
Phone: (602) 224-0999
Website: cblawyers.com
