Known as a rising star and a stalwart in the cause of justice, equality, and fairness among his peers in South Florida, Attorney Richard T. Champagne was born in Miami in 1980. Being the son of Haitian immigrants, Mr. Champagne developed at an early age a deep appreciation for and a strong belief in freedom, liberty, equality, and justice as he learned from his parents about the plight, tribulation, human sufferings, despair, and hopelessness that afflicted the Haitian people under the brutal dictatorship of the Duvalier Regime.
Of course, those values instilled in him by his loving parents had shaped his moral consciousness and served him as a moral compass in the decisions he made later in life. Looking into Mr. Champagne’s background of personal history, it was quite fitting that he developed an interest in the field of Criminal Justice. So he attended Florida Atlantic University where he earned a Bachelors’ Degree (BA) in Criminal Justice in 2002. While being a student at Florida Atlantic University, he was elected Student Government Vice President, a great opportunity for him to develop and sharpen his leadership and managerial skills.
His academic research and pedagogic studies in the field of Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University reinvigorated his commitment to the cause of justice and gave him a fresh sense of purpose as he contemplated his career choices. Determined to be the voice of the voiceless, the guardian of civil liberties, and the enforcer of the rule of law, Mr. Champagne attended Saint Thomas University School of Law where he graduated top five percent in his class in 2007. Thereafter, he completed a successful internship at the Florida Supreme Court. He was admitted in the Florida bar in 2008 and in Massachusetts bar in 2011.
Seeking to broaden and sharpen his legal knowledge and skills in Criminal Law, Mr. Champagne took a job as an Assistant Public Defender at the Public Defender’s Office for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County, Florida, providing legal counsel and legal representation to individuals accused of crimes, protecting defendants’ guaranteed constitutional safeguards, and making sure that our democratic principles of fairness and substantial justice that we deem sacrosanct are scrupulously followed by the State. Later on, Mr. Champagne moved into private practice becoming a founder and managing partner at Champagne Law Group, P.A., a law firm specializing in family law, criminal defense, and immigration law.
Despite his demanding schedule, Mr. Champagne has kept a strong tie with the local community, engaging in community building, public service, and community organizing. As president of the Haitian Lawyers Association (HLA), a local bar association with over two hundred members that include lawyers, law professors, law students and judges, Mr. Champagne put his leadership skills to work forging relationships and building coalitions in the community at large with community leaders, business leaders, government entities, and members of the Clergy, raising awareness about social issues affecting the lives of people in the community, and developing strategies designed to bring change in their lives.
Under his leadership, the Haitian Lawyers Association (HLA) had worked closely with representatives of the Obama Administration and with local government entities to bring relief to homeowners facing foreclosures in the 2008-2011 foreclosure crisis and provided legal assistance to over eight hundred undocumented Haitians seeking legal status in United States after the devastation caused by the horrible earthquake. During his spare time, Mr. Champagne provides pro bono representation to struggling small business owners and to nonprofit organizations like New England Human Rights Organization, Inc., a non-profit and advocacy organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, whose mission is to advocate for individuals and immigrants whose rights are being violated both in the U.S. and abroad. As of late, he became a member of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce hoping to use this opportunity to help minority business owners.
As a practicing attorney, Mr. Champagne is known to be a man of integrity and unimpeachable character. His wit, professionalism, competence, and zeal have earned great accolades and acclaims among his peers, former clients, and members of the public. He is a proud father of a five-year old girl Sydney and is engaged to his longtime girlfriend Cassandra. They love traveling, dancing, and boating.