Harmeet K. Dhillon

Before she became a household name within the Republican National Committee and the legal field, Dhillon created her own law firm.

“I’m very proud of creating a place where people of all different backgrounds and many women colleagues are able to practice law and thrive doing the type of work they want to do,” Dhillon said.

Thanks to her work during the pandemic, Americans can attend church or gather to exercise their religious liberties, an activity banned for most of 2020.

In Gish v. Newsom, Dhillon challenged Riverside and San Bernardino counties’ ban on worship gatherings while allowing secular activities to remain open. She lost her request for a temporary restraining order in April pushing for strict scrutiny when evaluating public health orders. Dhillon argued that absent consistency in the rules, some churchgoers could take advantage of loopholes and start holding Bible studies at a Costco or a supermarket, where there are no time or capacity limits or restrictions.

Despite losing that battle, U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal of the Central District of California noted Dhillon and the defendants’ performance that day, remarking that “this is probably the best argument I’ve had in a teleconference, of all hearings, I’ve had so far.”

Dhillon was also part of the plaintiffs’ team to represent South Bay United Pentecostal in San Diego. Both the Gish and South Bay petitions were struck down by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but went up to the nation’s high court, where the justices vacated the lower court’s judgments and had the case remanded for further consideration.

Dhillon lost other COVID-related cases during the pandemic but she didn’t give up.

“If you didn’t have a lawyer like me who was willing to lose again and again and be tenacious, you would’ve never gotten the case to the Supreme Court of the United States,” she said.

— Gina Kim