List of first women lawyers and judges in California
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This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in California. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
Annette Abbott Adams (1912):[29][30][31] First female to serve as an appellate court judge in California (upon her appointment as a Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal of the Third Appellate District in 1942)
Mildred Lillie (1938):[32] First female to serve as Associate Justice of any California appellate court (Second District-1958). Later was elevated to Presiding Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal (1982)
Vaino Spencer (1952):[33][34] First African American female judge in California (1961)
Ann H. Rutherford (1967):[35][36] First female to serve as a judge in a rural county in California (Butte; 1976)
Margaret J. Morris (1953):[37][38][39] First female to serve as an Associate Justice (1976) and Presiding Justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in California (1982)
Audrey B. Collins (1977):[93] First African American female judge to serve as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (2009)
Dolly M. Gee (1984):[94] First Chinese American female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (2010)
Jacqueline Nguyen (1991):[97] First Vietnamese American female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (1991):[98] First Latino American female justice to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (2011)
Lucy H. Koh (1993):[99] First Korean American female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (2010)
Kimberly J. Mueller (1995):[100] First female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (2010)
Phyllis J. Hamilton (1976):[101][102] First African American female judge to serve as the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (2014)
Jinsook Ohta:[103] First Asian American female (who is of Korean descent) to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (2021)
Marion L. Obera (1962):[122][123] First African American female to serve as a Deputy District Attorney in California (1963)
City Attorney
Jayne Williams (1974):[124] First African American female to become a City Attorney in California (1986)
Political Office
Roberta Achtenberg (1975):[125] First openly LGBT female (a lawyer) appointment to a federal position was confirmed by the U.S. Senate (upon being appointed as the Assistant Secretary of the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Office in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1993)
Sheila Kuehl (1979):[126] First openly LGBT female member of the California legislature (1994)
Kamala Harris (1989):[111] First female lawyer (and first African American and Indian American female) to serve as a U.S. Senator from California (2017)
Bar Association
Joanne M. Garvey (1962):[127] First female to serve on the State Bar of California Board of Governors (1971–1974).
Margaret Mary Morrow (1974):[128][129] First female to serve as President of the State Bar of California (1993)
Karen S. Nobumoto (c. 1989):[130] First female of color (African/Asian American descent) to serve as the President of the State Bar of California (2001)
Holly Fujie (1978):[131] First Asian American (female) to serve as the President of the State Bar of California (2008-2009)
Eloise Cushing (1918):[136][137][138] First female lawyer in Oakland, California. She served as the County Librarian for Alameda County Law Library (1910-1957) and ran for a judicial position in 1930.
Cecil Mosbacher (1934):[139][140] First female judge in Alameda County, California (1951)
Jacqueline Taber (1947):[141] First female to serve on the Oakland-Piedmont Municipal Court (1965) [Alameda County, California]
Judith Ford (1974):[34][142] First African American female judge in Alameda County, California (1983)
Phyllis J. Hamilton (1976):[101][102] First African American (female) to serve as a Commissioner of the Alameda County Superior Court (1985)
Jayne Williams (1974):[124] First African American female to become the City Attorney in Alameda County, California (1986)
Peggy Hora (1978):[143] First female judge in Southern Alameda County, California (c. 1983)
Cecilia Castellanos (1978):[144] First Latino American female judge in Alameda County, California (1997)
Brenda Harbin-Forte (1979):[145] First African American female appointed as the Presiding Judge of the Alameda County Juvenile Court (2000–2003)
Trina Thompson Stanley (1987):[146][147] First African American female elected judge in Alameda County, California (2002)
Jo-Lynne Q. Lee (1978):[148] First Chinese American female to serve on the Alameda County Superior Court (2002)
Diane Bellas (1981):[149] First female Public Defender of Alameda County, California
Nancy E. O'Malley (1983):[150] First female to serve as the District Attorney for Alameda County, California (2009)
Kimberly E. Colwell (1987):[151] First openly LGBT female judge in Alameda County, California (2012)
Margaret Fujioka (1985):[152] First Japanese American female judge in Alameda County, California (2017)
Eumi K. Lee (2000):[153] First Korean American female judge in Alameda County, California (2018). She is the first Korean American to serve on the bench.
Pamela Y. Price:[154] First African American female to serve as the District Attorney for Alameda County, California (2022)
Alpine County
Terese Drabec (1983) and Karen Dustman (1983):[155][156][157][158] First females to serve consecutively as the District Attorney for Alpine County, California (2010-2015; 2015–2017). Per available online sources, Colleen E. Hemingway (1992)—who served from 1996 to 1998—may have been the first female District Attorney for Alpine County.[159][160][161]
Cindee F. Mayfield (1984):[204][205] First female judge in Mendocino County, California (1998)
Modoc County
Annette Abbott Adams (1912):[29][30][31] One of the first females (who later became a lawyer and a judge) to serve as a school principal in California [upon becoming the Principal of Modoc County High School in 1907]
Mono County
In 2018, Therese M. Hankel, Esq. (1994) launched a campaign to become the first female judge in Mono County, California. She lost the election.[206][207]
Francisca P. Tisher (1980):[209] First female judge in Napa County, California (1995)
Elia Ortiz (1999):[210] First Latino American female judge in Napa County, California (2013)
Monique Langhorne Wilson (2000):[211] First African American female judge in Napa County, California (2019). She was also the first African American (female) Deputy District Attorney in Napa County.[212]
Allison Haley (2002):[213] First female District Attorney for Napa County, California (2017)
Consuelo María Callahan (1975):[248] First Hispanic American female judge in San Joaquin County, California (1992). She would later become a circuit court judge.
Lauren Thomasson (1989):[249] First African American female judge in San Joaquin County, California (2005)
Tori Verber Salazar:[250][251] First female District Attorney for San Joaquin County, California (2015)
Emma Souza (1980):[252][253] First female lawyer in Tracy, California [San Joaquin County, California]
Margaret Kemp (1972):[254][255] First female judge in San Mateo County, California (1978)
Rosemary Pfeiffer (1977):[62] First openly LGBT (female) judge in San Mateo County, California (1991). She was also the first openly LGBT female to serve as the Presiding Judge (2000).[61]
Nancy Ligon de Ita (1981):[256] First Hispanic American (female) to serve as the President of the San Mateo County Bar Association (c. 2009)
Elizabeth Lee (1983):[257] First Asian-Pacific American female judge in San Mateo County, California (2005)
Amarra A. Lee (2006):[258] First African American female to serve on the San Mateo County Superior Court, California (2018)
Rose Bird (1966):[40] First female Deputy Public Defender for Santa Clara County, California (1967-1974)
Virginia Mae Days (1934):[263][264] First Latino American female to serve as a Judge of the Santa Clara County Municipal Court (1981-1984). She was also the first Latino American female to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County (1984-2004).
LaDoris Cordell (1975):[265] First African American (female) to serve on the Santa Clara County Superior Court (1988)
Rolanda Pierre Dixon:[266] First African American (female) to serve as an Assistant District Attorney for Santa Clara County, California
Ann Ravel (1974):[267] First female named as the Santa Clara County Counsel (1998)
Erica Yew:[268] First Asian American female to serve on the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California (2001)
Julie Emede:[269] First openly LGBT female to serve as the President of the Santa Clara County Bar Association
Dolores Carr (1980):[270][271] First female District Attorney for Santa Clara County, California (2006)
Mary Greenwood (1981):[272] First female Public Defender for Santa Clara County, California (2005)
Risë Jones Pichon (1976):[273] First African American female (and minority overall) to serve as the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California (2015)
Nahal Iravani-Sani (1993):[274] First Iranian American female judge in Santa Clara County, California (2017)
Audra Ibarra (1995):[152] First Filipino American (female) judge in Santa Clara County, California (2018)
Elvira Robinson (1976):[275] First Latino American female to serve as the Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, California
Megan Marshall and Donna Daly:[324][325][326][327] First females to serve as the District Attorney for Trinity County on an interim and permanent basis respectively (2018)
Yolo County
Martha A. Adams:[328] First female lawyer to practice before Yolo County Superior Court (1917)
Melinda M. Reed (1979) and Elisabeth B. Krant-Latronico (1980):[379][380][381] Per available sources, the first females to serve respectively as municipal court judges in Tulare County, California (1993-1995). They would both later become superior court judges in 1998.
Lisa Bertolino (1988):[382] First female Public Defender for Tulare County, California (2014)
Tuolumne County
Eleanor Provost (1976):[383][384] First female to serve as the Deputy District Attorney for Tuolumne County, California (1977-1982). She later became a judge.
Cherie Spitze (1994):[385] First female President of the Tuolumne County Bar Association (2015)
Diane Altamirano (1977):[389] First female to serve as the Presiding Judge for the Superior Court of Imperial County, California (2018)
Katherine Kmiec Turner (2007):[390] First female County Counsel for Imperial County, California (2015)
Kern County
Ellen Miller (1936):[391] First female judge in Kern County, California (1957). She is reputed to be the first female lawyer in Bakersfield, California. [Kern County, California]
Andrea Kohler:[392] First female to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for Kern County, California
Lisa Green (1983):[393] First female to serve as the District Attorney for Kern County, California (2010)
Raymonda Burnham (1996):[394] First female public defender and criminal defense lawyer to be appointed a Judge of the Kern County Superior Court (2008)
Gloria J. Cannon (1996):[395] First African American female judge in Kern County, California (2017)
Pam Singh (2004):[396] First female Public Defender for Kern County, California (2017)
Cynthia Zimmer:[392] First female elected as the District Attorney for Kern County, California (2018)
Judith K. Dulcich (1990) and Colette M. Humphrey (1984):[397] First females to serve simultaneously as the Presiding Judge and Assistant Presiding Judge respectively for Kern County Superior Court (2019)
Wendy L. Avila:[398] First Latino American female judge in Kern County, California (2021)
Alekxia Torres-Stallings (2014):[399] First Latino American female to serve as the President of the Kern County Bar Association (2021). Torres-Stalling and her father David A. Torres are the first father and daughter to have served as county bar president.
Ruth E. Cooper (1964):[400] First female lawyer in Ridgecrest, California
Vaino Spencer (1952):[33][34] First African American female judge in Los Angeles County, California (1961)
Marion L. Obera (1962):[122][123] First African American female to serve as a Deputy District Attorney in California (1963)
Consuelo B. Marshall (1962):[91][92] First female (and African American female) to work in the City Attorney's Office for Los Angeles (1962)
Patricia Phillips (1968):[407] First female to serve as the President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, California (1984)
Ramona Perez (1972):[408] First Latino American female judge in Los Angeles County, California (1985)
Maxine F. Thomas (1972):[124] First African American female appointed as a Presiding Judge of Los Angeles Municipal Court (1987)
Miriam Krinsky:[409] First (female) lawyer from the public sector to serve as the President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, California (2002)
Jacqueline Nguyen (1991):[97] First Vietnamese American female judge in Los Angeles County, California (2002)
Carol L. Newman (1979):[412] First openly LGBT female to serve as the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Los Angeles County, California (2015)
Jackie Lacey (1982):[413] First female (and African American female) District Attorney for Los Angeles County, California (2012)
Amy Ashvanian:[76] First Armenian-born (female) judge in Los Angeles County, California (2018)
Maria Rohaidy (1989):[414] First Hispanic American (female) to serve as the President of the Long Beach Bar Association, Los Angeles County, California (2009)
Celia Young Baker (1948):[418][419] First female judge in Orange County, California (1948)[420]
Betty Lou Lamoreaux (1957):[421] First female to serve on the Superior Court of Orange County, California (1976)[422]
Alicemarie Stotler (1967):[423] First female lawyer to work in the Orange County District Attorney's Office
Frances Munoz (1972):[41][42] First Latino American (female) lawyer hired by the Public Defender's Office in Orange County, California
Heidi Mueller (1975):[424] First female lawyer to practice criminal defense full-time in Orange County, California (1977)
Karen Robinson (1989):[34] First African American female judge in Orange County, California (2003)
Cristina L. Talley (1982):[425] First Latino American female to become the City Attorney for Anaheim, California [Orange County, California] (2009)[426]
Sheila Hanson (1989):[427] First Iranian American (female) judge in Orange County, California (2006)
Lei Lei Wang Ekvall (1992):[428] First Asian American female to serve as the President of the Orange County Bar Association (2010)
Certain sources identify Rosalind Goodrich Bates as the first licensed Latina lawyer in California. Although Bates had Mexican ancestry, she did not identify as such (nor as Latina) during her lifetime. This might explain why Mary Virginia Orozco is deemed the first Latina lawyer in California.
Munoz, Frances (Spring 2002). "Raising the Bar: Latino and Latina Presence in the Judiciary and the Struggle for Representation: Breaking the Barrier: Latino and Latina Pioneers on the Federal and State Benches: Overcoming Barriers: Being Flexible and Creative". La Raza L.J. 13: 29.
Arkin, Michael B.; Laskin, Franklin T. (January 1, 2000). From the Depth of the Mines Came the Law: A History of the Bench & Bar of Calaveras County. Word Dancer Pr. p.121. ISBN1884995160.