Habib Ilahi
Immediate-Past President
sabadc@sabadc.org

HABIB ILAHI is Counsel at the law firm of Schertler & Onorato, L.L.P.  His practice focuses on white collar defense, Government investigations, and securities litigation. Mr. Ilahi has represented individuals in criminal, civil, and administrative cases in both federal and state matters.

Mr. Ilahi previously served on the SABA-DC Board as Programming Chair (2008) and Programming Director (2007). Mr. Ilahi also served as Vice President, Organizational Memberships (2006) and as Vice President, Individual Memberships (2007) for the Executive Committee of the North American South Asian Bar Association (“NASABA”). In those roles, Mr. Ilahi worked closely with NASABA’s 24 local chapters and facilitated communication between the local and national bars. Mr. Ilahi was the former chair of NASABA’s Criminal Justice Committee (2003 - 2006), where he advocated on behalf of South Asian Americans who had been the target of hate crimes and bias-related incidents. The Committee is comprised of current and former federal and state prosecutors, defense counsel, and other attorneys. In his leadership role, Mr. Ilahi coordinated NASABA’s response to incidents of bias affecting the South Asian community and worked closely with the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and other non-governmental civil rights organizations.

Mr. Ilahi was born in Galveston, Texas and grew up outside of Houston. He is a graduate of the University of Houston Law Center and the University of Texas at Austin.