When Pallavi Mehta Wahi started out as a young attorney in Seattle, she thought she’d need to downplay her interests to fit in with her colleagues. Born and raised in New Delhi, her greatest joy came from Bollywood films and Star Trek. She’s since learned that authenticity is a strength, not a weakness.

“I won’t hide my culture,” she says. “I don’t hide my background. I own it.”

Fast-forward 25 years, and Wahi is now a managing partner of K&L Gates’ Seattle office, where she represents some of the largest household brands in the world. She also serves as the co-chair of the firm’s India practice.

Wahi studied law at the University of Cambridge, and her first role out of law school was as a law clerk at the Washington State Court of Appeals. From there, she became an associate at the Seattle firm of Stokes Lawrence P.S. for four years before moving to K&L Gates. The offer to become a managing partner came in 2015, shortly after the birth of her son. During her tenure, she has served on the firmwide management committee and as the chair of the firmwide diversity committee.

Wahi hungrily takes on civic engagement roles. She is a member of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce board of directors (she served as chair from 2022 to 2023) — an honor which makes her particularly proud. Twenty years ago, she was a founding member of the South Asian Bar Association in Seattle.

In addition, she was appointed to the Seattle branch board of directors of The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and is a member of the International Women’s Forum and the industry advisory board of the Global Business Law Institute at the University of Washington.

“There’s a particular emphasis on equality and equity that just is part of the city’s culture, and community engagement and leadership,” she says. “It’s really more than just any one individual. It’s a cooperative understanding with how we live together.”

“It’s really more than just any one individual. It’s a cooperative understanding with how we live together.”

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed: Wahi has been named to the Washington Super Lawyers list for business litigation for many years, and the “IP Stars” list published by Managing Intellectual Property magazine. She’s also been recognized by the Legal 500, Best Lawyers in America, Indian Business Law Journal, the Puget Sound Business Journal, Lawyers of Color, the National Diversity Council, the Indian Corporate Counsel Association, and the King County Bar Association.

Seattle magazine named Wahi one of its Most Influential People of 2021.

Wahi believes that her experience having lived in three countries gives her a greater perspective.

“I can intersect between cultures and languages,” she says. “It is a duality that comes from being a global citizen that is really interesting in a place like Seattle, which embraces global citizens. And Seattle has been a great fit. Since we came, it has grown into this really global boom, and has really done that by welcoming not just people like me, but welcoming concepts, innovation and thinking about community in a way that’s very unique, and has really shown itself in its growth.”