Sidhu, who is himself Sikh, has witnessed the backlash and discrimination against Sikhs in a post-Sept. 11, 2001, environment. He is one of the founding members of The Sikh Coalition, formed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, which serves to advocate for Sikhs whose civil or human rights were violated.

“Over the last 2 1/2 years, we have represented two Sikh men who were seeking to serve in the U.S. armed forces, specifically the Army,” Sidhu said. Since 1984, Sikhs have been barred from military service because the Army said the Sikh’s unshaved beards and turbans ran contrary to its uniformity requirement. The Army also cited safety concerns and said that the men’s presence would affect unit cohesion. “Based on the fact that Sikhs serve in a number of nations around the world and are able to meet all the uniformity and safety requirements ultimately proves that any Sikh candidate would be able to meet the Army’s requirements,” Sidhu said.

He was able to successfully show that the men were able to meet uniformity requirements by using Army-issued cloth for the turbans and that even with a beard, the men could not only use a gas mask effectively, but surpass their clean-shaven comrades in field tests. Eventually the men were allowed to join the service, but Sidhu said that he would settle for nothing less than a policy change. “Having the resources of a firm like McDermott is heartening as an attorney and a minority,” Sidhu said. “It’s been fantastic.”