“It’s very amazing and very challenging,” said HALANY President Annel-Stephan Norgaisse. “It’s challenging in a positive way in the sense that it’s something new and there is a lot of work. But it’s a beautiful thing, because we see not only a lot of our own people helping out, but a lot of others believe in what we’re doing and want to help out as well.”

HALANY was founded in January of 2013. The purpose of the group is to encourage Haitian-Americans to participate in the judicial and legal system and to give representation to people whose community often needs it.

“We cannot ignore the injustices that our people face,” Norgaisse said. “Being a Haitian attorney, being in this organization, your people will come to you. I feel like we’re affecting the community in a positive way by participating in a lot of community events [and] a lot of different issues that are going on. We’re involved in them and fighting against them.”

Board member Emmanuel Depas, who was the group’s first president, said that he initially wanted to be a part of HALANY because he felt isolated in law school.

“The way I felt in law school, I didn’t want any other attorney to go through,” Depas explained. “I didn’t know any other Haitian attorneys that I could call or go to for mentoring. There are a lot of Haitian lawyers, but there are a lot that don’t have any family members with legal backgrounds that they can turn to. This organization helps bring the Haitian legal community together.”

The group’s first event was a launch party for its website. Depas recalled being very nervous and added that he was quickly inspired by the turnout and the fact that two prominent Haitian-Americans, Councilmember Mathieu Eugene and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte, showed up to support the group. HALANY attracted nearly 15 new members at that first event.

Since then, it has held more than a few big events, legal clinics and Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars, and has more than 150 members. One of HALANY’s proudest moments came when one of its first members, Hon. Dweynie E. Paul, was elected to the bench in Nov. 2015.

“Dweynie has definitely uplifted our organization,” Depas said. “She’s one of our MVPs. She was our first member to join at that first event and she’s always been very supportive and active in everything that we’ve done. We’ve watched her grow from an attorney to a Haitian judge. It’s a great feeling. She motivates everybody.”

Now that the group has been firmly established, HALANY is focused on growth — particularly when it comes to its CLE program and its size.

“The theme of my presidency is ‘Marchons Unis,’ which means work united,” Norgaisse said. “As president, my number one goal is growth, and number two is academic development. I want to make this an organization that benefits our members. What good is it if it doesn’t benefit our members? That means providing networking opportunities and CLE credits. To me, that means growth, and we’re not going to achieve that without working together.”

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