Twinckle Vaidya Patel

Twinckle Vaidya Patel focuses her practice on conducting independent investigations involving discrimination, harassment, Title IX, student or faculty conduct, professional misconduct, retaliation, fraud, compliance and other confidential matters for higher education institutions, corporations, and government entities.

Prior to co-founding Greenspan Patel with longtime friend and accomplished litigator, Leslie Miller Greenspan, Twinckle spent decades in public service honing her expertise. Most recently, as a Senior Policy Advisor with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), she led highly sensitive, confidential investigations across multiple DHS component agencies and provided strategic and impactful guidance to safeguard civil rights and civil liberties in all DHS programs and activities across the country.

Ms. Patel brings a depth of knowledge to investigations, drawing on her extensive experience with DHS component agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Immigration and Enforcement (ICE), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), United States Coast Guard (USCG), and also the City of Philadelphia Law Department. Clients recognize Ms. Patel’s integrity and candor as well as her collaborative, solution-oriented approach to addressing complex challenges.

Representative Experience

• Ms. Patel led a multi-agency investigation into DHS’s Operation Vigilant Sentry (OVS), based on a complaint signed by 289 nongovernmental organizations alleging the mistreatment of and discrimination towards migrants interdicted in the Caribbean waters. This investigation took Ms. Patel and members of her team aboard vessels in the Caribbean Waters to observe the interdictions and recommend concerns regarding the processing, custody, protection, treatment, and screening of migrants, among other concerns.
• Led investigations of ICE detention facilities across the nation based on highly sensitive civil rights and civil liberties complaints involving allegations of mistreatment of noncitizens, discrimination, use of force, medical care, religious accommodations, sexual assault, legal access, retaliation, and other disciplinary methods.
• With FEMA, Ms. Patel’s work encompassed the full spectrum of the disaster lifecycle and relevant appeals cycle — from initial project review and eligibility determinations through first and second level administrative appeals. Ms. Patel analyzed public assistance projects valued in the multi-millions for compliance with disaster funding requirements under, Stafford Act, 2 C.F.R. Part 200, and FEMA's Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide, to include eligibility of applicant, facility, work, and costs.
• With the City of Philadelphia, Law Department, Ms. Patel was instrumental in moving 450 child welfare care cases through to permanent resolution, either through adoption or permanent placement with family, and tried approximately 650 cases (all bench trials).

Professional Honors and Committees

• Certified in Title IX Investigation Foundations Level One: Procedures and Critical Skills for Higher Education through ATIXA (July 2025)
• South Asian Bar Association: SABA Leadership Institute Fellow (Class of 2026); Vice President for Attorney Outreach, SABA- Philadelphia (2005-2006)
• Philadelphia Bar Association
• Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania: Troop Leader (2022 – present)
• Rose Tree Media Soccer Club: Manager (Youth, U13) (2023 – present)
• Support Center for Child Advocacy: Volunteer (former)

Speaking Engagements

• Employment Law Institute: “Workplace Investigations Gone Wrong” (April, 2026)
• Federal Emergency Management Agency: Annual Federal Ethics Training (2012 – 2022)
• Federal Emergency Management Agency: Hatch Act Training (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018)
• Court Appointed Special Advocate Training (2009, 2010)
• Rutgers University School of Law, Public Service Symposium: Children & the Law (2008)
• Philadelphia Law Department: Intersection of Child Welfare & Immigration Law (2008)
• Philadelphia Bar Association: Philadelphia’s Immigrant Youth (2008)
• Pennsylvania Bar Institute: How to Handle a Child Abuse Case (2007)

Publications

• Child Advocacy: An invaluable Experience, Legal Intelligencer, July 25, 2006, pp. 8 (Vol. 234, No. 234)

Bar and Court Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey
• District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit (Virginia)

Education

• Temple University School of Law, J.D.
• The George Washington University, B.A., in International Affairs