Words Matter. Perhaps Especially Ours as Lawyers.

By Rupa G. Singh

Rupa G. Singh is a certified appellate specialist who handles complex civil appeals and critical motions in state and federal court at Niddrie Addams Fuller Singh LLP, San Diego’s only appellate boutique. She is founding president of the San Diego Appellate Inn of Court, former chair of the San Diego County Bar’s Appellate Practice Section, and a self-proclaimed word enthusiast.

Words matter, and the right words matter most of all. In the end, they’re all that remain of us. — John Birmingham

My grandfather was a well-respected, reasonably successful lawyer in post-colonial India. Lawyers also seem disproportionately likely to lead nation-states, movements, and revolutions, and to transition seamlessly into politics and government. But I didn’t become a lawyer to pay homage to family tradition. Nor did I aspire to lead a movement or rise through the ranks in the public sector.