Haitian-American lawyer Sherbune Paul joins New York mayor's judiciary advisory committee
The trial attorney, the first in her family to graduate from college, says she brings a perspective not always represented in judicial selection.
NEW YORK, United States. Sherbune Paul, a New York-born lawyer of Haitian heritage, has been appointed to the Mayor's Advisory Committee on the Judiciary.
Paul was born in New York City to parents from Haiti. Her mother's family is from Miragoane and her father's from Port-au-Prince.
She works at Russo & Gould LLP and has practised law for 10 years, spending much of that time in courtrooms.
Family influences
Paul credits her mother and her uncle for shaping her career. Her mother had her at 25, three years after arriving in the United States, and worked hard to learn English and pursue a nursing career.
Her uncle, Gregory, a father figure who worked at the courts, took her to Bring Your Child to Work Day each year.
"I still remember walking into the courthouse for the first time," she said. "I remember realizing that the decisions made in that building touched people's lives all over the city."
Her grandmother, widowed, left her children in Haiti with her brother and came to New York alone, working for years as a maid.
Paul became the first in her family to graduate from college, and her brother and sister followed.
She considered computer science and later higher education administration, interning at Yale, which offered her a job. She turned it down to attend New York Law School.
A new perspective
Paul credits Mayor Zohran Mamdani with recognising the value of bringing different experiences into the judicial selection process.
"I'm coming to the table as a trial attorney, a younger attorney, a first-generation Haitian American, and a Black woman. Those experiences give me a perspective that may not have always been represented in rooms like this," she said.
She is vice president of the Association of Black Women Attorneys and sits on the board of the Caribbean Attorneys Network.
In her new role she hopes to prioritise outreach with affinity and local bar associations to demystify the judicial appointment process.
"You don't have to be perfect to belong here," she tells her mentees. "Keep doing the work, keep showing up, and don't let someone else's idea of what's possible determine how far you go."
