List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States

Summary

This list of the first women lawyers and judges in each state of the United States includes the years in which the women were admitted to practice law. Also included are women of other distinctions, such as the first in their states to graduate from law school.

Firsts nationwide edit

 
Margaret Brent: first woman to act as an attorney in the United States (1648)
 
Arabella Mansfield: first woman admitted to practice law in the United States (1869)
 
Charlotte E. Ray: First African American female lawyer in the United States and Washington, D.C. (1872)
 
Lyda Conley: First Native American female lawyer in the United States (1902)

Law school edit

Lawyers edit

Lawyers and the U.S. Supreme Court edit

Law clerks edit

State judges edit

See Women in the United States judiciary

Federal judges edit

See Women in the United States judiciary

Attorneys General of the U.S. edit

Deputy Attorney General of the U.S. edit

Associate Attorney General of the U.S. edit

Solicitor General of the U.S. edit

Deputy Solicitor General of the U.S. edit

Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. edit

State Attorneys General edit

State Solicitor General edit

United States Attorney edit

Assistant United States Attorney edit

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney edit

State Assistant Attorney General edit

State District Attorneys edit

  • First female: Edna C. Plummer (1907) in 1918[101][102]
  • First African American female: Patricia Hurt in 1997[103]
  • First openly lesbian female: Bonnie Dumanis (1977) in 2002[104]
  • First Dominican American (female): Camelia Valdes in 2009[105]
  • First Korean American (female): Grace H. Park in 2013[106][107]
  • First Puerto Rican female: Deborah González in 2020[108]

State Deputy District Attorney edit

Federal Bar Associations edit

State Bar Association edit

  • First (African American) female to lead coed state bar: Gertrude Rush (1918) in 1921[110][111][121]
  • First female president of voluntary state bar: Carole Bellows in 1977[122][123]
  • First female president of mandatory/integrated state bar: Donna Willard-Jones from 1979-1980[124][125]
  • First Latino American female president: Mary Torres in 2002[126]
  • First Korean American female president: Esther H. Lim in 2018[127]

Firsts in individual states edit

Firsts in Washington, D.C. edit

Firsts in the U.S. territories edit

See also edit

Other topics of interest edit

References edit

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