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June 28, 2012
MONTREAL ATTORNEY RAJPATTIE PERSAUD-BILLETTE RECEIVES
NEW YORK STATE BAR’S NON-RESIDENT MEMBER AWARD
ALBANY—Rajpattie Persaud-Billette of Montreal was posthumously
honored with the inaugural Outstanding Non-Resident Member Award, given
by the Membership Committee of the New York State Bar Association.
The award, conferred on June 23, recognizes the growing impact and
contributions of non-resident members to the State Bar. Non-resident
members make up more than 25 percent of the State Bar’s
membership.
Persaud-Billette was chair of the State Bar’s Committee on
Lawyer Referral Service from 2008 until her death in August 2011. The
committee helps New Yorkers find lawyers for their legal matters. She
joined the committee in 2000 and quickly became one of its most active
members, although she lived in Canada.
“Rajpattie raised the bar for non-resident members. She worked
so hard to help New Yorkers find the right attorney for their legal
matters even with her own law practice based in Montreal,” said
State Bar President Seymour W. James, Jr. of Brooklyn (The Legal Aid
Society of New York). “It is only fitting that we honor her
incomparable dedication and service with this award. We greatly miss her
enthusiasm, leadership and friendship.”
A native of Guyana, Persaud-Billette began her career as a banker.
She was in her forties when she was admitted to practice law in Quebec
and New York after earning a law degree from McGill University.
She joined the New York State Bar Association in 1995.
In Montreal, Persaud-Billette, a solo practitioner, concentrated her
practice in family law as well as trusts and estates law. She was a
member of the Montreal Bar Association and the Quebec Bar
Association.
She also was a member of the State Bar’s Elder Law, Family Law
and International sections as well as the Task Force on New York Law in
International Matters.
The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest
voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in
1876.
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