Andrea Sabina Ogle, a Guyanese-born lawyer, assures, that public service is one of the most rewarding and gratifying endeavors one can undertake, and for the last 35 years, she has demonstrated these attributes through her passion for helping others to navigate complex life altering events and legal issues.
To this end, Ogle who is aspiring to judgeship, in her diverse Queens community, said she was eager and prepared to steer her career in this new direction with an overriding sense of responsibility of working for the greater good.
“I have been qualified for election as a judge for the Civil and Family court and believes that my appointment would enhance both the credibility of the justice system and also preserve the public’s confidence in it,” said Ogle who is passionate about raising the bar in the legal system.
Living the American dream, as a successful attorney and owner of a law firm since migrating to the U.S. over 40 ago, Ogle said the Queens community and population of New York City continue to become more increasingly multiracial and multicultural. “It is important that the judiciary reflects the divergent racial and ethnic community it serves.”
Ogle, who was honored by the Borough of Queens, and NYC County District 27, in recognition of her dedication and commitment to the community, noted, that it was unquestionable that a diverse bench enabled the public to believe that they are being represented within the justice system, in order to promote the notion of equality and fairness to all.
An effective vice president of Assigned Counsel Association of Queens County Bar Association, Ogle is a believer that “our diversity and ethnicity shape who we are and influence the contributions that we make to society.”
“Our life experiences, race and gender, impact how we view and relate to others. Today, multi-ethnicity is the norm and the local population has matured due to exposure to a panorama of international cultures taking root. It was not always so,” she opined.
Ogle, a member of the Attorneys For Children and 18b Assigned Counsel Panels, who has represented indigent adults and children in Family Count and Supreme court proceedings since 1999, and played an integral part in the launch of the Family Treatment Court in 2002 in Queens County Family court, said, she has benefited from the dual culture inherent in having born in a different country, absorbing those cultural values, and then coming to the United States and assimilating into a new culture.
“This experience has allowed me to combine the best part of two cultures and taught me the importance of managing two cultural realties,” said the barrister, who has organized community events in conjunction with various legislators of the NYC Council, NYS Senate, NYS Assembly, US Congress and the Sullivan County Human Rights Commission.
The Seaton Hall University Law graduate, quoted Justice Thurgood Marshall, “If we deprive the legal process of the benefits of differing viewpoints and perspectives on a given problem” then we are left with “one-sided justice,” words she lives by, and works to uphold during her everyday belief that justice and compassion are not mutually exclusive.
“The knowledge that I have gained through my work and life experiences provide me with the skills to remain unbiased, respectful and impartial. At the same time such qualities are necessary in order to do what is fair within the limits of the law, and to safeguard the legal rights of all the parties involved.
Vice President of South Asian and Indo-Caribbean Bar Association of Queens, Ali Najmi, describes Ogle as an excellent attorney and well-regarded community leader.
“She would be a great judge and make history as the first Guyanese judge in Queens,” said Najmi.
