Six years ago, Sarang Damle graduated at the top of his University of Virginia Law School class, and ever since he’s played a role in some of the most challenging and high-profile appellate cases for the U.S. Justice Department. Damle, who served as vice president of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, joined the Civil Division’s appellate staff in October 2006. From constitutional challenges to federal statutes to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detainee litigation, Damle’s caseload stretches across a variety of practices.

Damle, 34, who supervises the appellate staff’s internship program, has argued 20 appellate cases in courts across the country.