Guyanese lawyer committed to Caribbean community
By Nelson A. King
After practicing law for over
two decades, Guyanese-born
Kawal P. Totaram says he still
remains totally committed to
serving the Caribbean community
in New York.
Despite many challenges,
over the years, the Richmond
Hill, Queens-based Totaram
told Caribbean Life, in an exclusive
interview over the weekend,
that nothing is more rewarding
than serving the community.
“As a person of color, practicing
in Long Is. and other
places, you have subtle forms
of racism, but you rise above
that,” said Totaram, 63, who
also practices law in Queens,
the other four boroughs in New
York City, as well as in Westchester
County and Schenectady
in upstate New York.
“You start to help organizations
in the community,” he
added. “As a result, you become
successful in the West Indian
community. It’s a rewarding job
professionally and financially.
“You’re proud of your accomplishments
in your community,”
continued Totaram, disclosing
that he also conducts
“political work to help galvanize
the community.”
“Our community is being
recognized little by little,” he
said.
He also pointed to assistance
he renders in raising funds to
help some candidates get elected
Caribbean L 6 ife, Jan. 4–10, 2019
to political offices, such as
former New York State George
Pataki and Guyanese Trevor
Roopnarine, who ran unsuccessfully
for City Council. He
noted that Roopnarine “came
close to winning.”
Totaram, who practiced law
in Guyana for two years —
from 1980-82 — and in New
York from 1988 to present, said
he played an integral role, in
the mid-to-late 1990s, in the
establishment of the first West
Indian Bar Association in
Brooklyn.
With former New York
Supreme Court Justice Reynold
Mason, of Grenada, serving as
president, and other West Indian
lawyers in Brooklyn, Totaram
said the first West Indian
Bar Association (WIBA) was
formed “to advocate for West
Indians lawyers in the courts in
the State of New York.
“We wanted to sensitize the
courts to understand the West
Indian culture better,” he said,
stating that, subsequently, he
became president of WIBA’s
Queens Chapter.
“We testified before the City
Council of New York against the
banning of Caribbean bananas
in favor of Chiquita bananas,”
added Totaram, disclosing that
WIBA executives also testified
before the City Council about
“the raiding of basements of
West Indians in Queens and
other places.”
Originally from Corentyne,
Berbice, Guyana, Totaram said
he received his early legal education
at the Cave Hill Campus
of the University of the
West Indies (UWI) in Barbados,
where he obtained his Bachelor
of Law (LL. B) in 1978.
Two years later, he completed
his legal certificate to practice
law from UWI’s Sir Hugh
Wooding Law School at the St.
Augustine Campus in Trinidad
and Tobago.
For two years, Totaram said
he practiced law in his native
land as a prosecutor in the
Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions (DPP).
After migrating to New York
later in 1982, he said he worked
in many “miniscule” jobs,
including managing movie
theaters in Manhattan, the
immigration law firm of Abraham
Glampzman in Manhattan,
and New York City Department
of Housing.
Soon after passing the New
York State Bar Examination in
1987, Totaram said he opened
his own law firm, specializing
in real estate, immigration, special
injury and divorce cases.
Later, when the housing
market “picked up,” he said he
placed more emphasis on real
estate.
Attorney Kawal P. Totaram.