List of first women lawyers and judges in Nevada

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Nevada. 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 obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history
Miranda Du: First Asian American female judge in Nevada

Lawyers
  • Laura May Tilden Wilson (1893):[1][2] First female admitted to practice law in Nevada
  • Georgia J. Johnson Dooley (1898):[2] First female to actually practice law in Nevada
  • Anna M. Warren (1899):[3][4][5] First female lawyer appointed as the U.S. Commissioner for Nevada (1913)
  • Felice Cohn (1902):[6] First native-born and Jewish American female lawyer in Nevada
  • Johnnie B. Rawlinson and Viveca Monet Woods (1980):[7] First African American female lawyers in Nevada

Law Clerk

State
  • Karen P. Bennett-Haron (1989):[9][10][11] First African American female appointed to Nevada's justice system at any level (2002)
  • Miranda Du (1994):[12][13] First Asian American female judge in Nevada
District Court
  • Miriam Shearing (1969):[14] First female appointed as a Judge of the Nevada District Courts (1983)
Municipal Court
  • Robin A. Wright (1979):[4] First female elected as a municipal court judge in Nevada (1981)
Appellate Court
  • Abbi Silver (1990):[15] First female appointed as the Chief Judge of the Nevada Court of Appeals (2017)
Supreme Court
  • Miriam Shearing (1969):[14] First female appointed as a Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada (1993–2005)
  • Lidia S. Stiglich (2008):[16] First openly LGBT female appointed as a Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court (2016)
Bankruptcy Court
  • Linda B. Riegle (1978):[4][17][18] First female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Nevada (1988)
District Court
  • Johnnie B. Rawlinson (1980):[7] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada (1998)
  • Gloria Navarro (1994):[19] First Hispanic female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada (2010)
  • Miranda Du (1994):[12][13] First Asian American female appointed as Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada (2012)
Magistrate Judge
  • Phyllis H. Atkins (1966):[4][20] First female appointed as a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the District of Nevada (1980)
Appellate Court
  • Johnnie B. Rawlinson (1980):[7] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2000).

Attorney General

Assistant Attorney General
  • Felice Cohn (1902):[21] First female Assistant Attorney General of Nevada

Federal Public Defender
  • Franny A. Forsman (1977):[4][20] First female appointed as the Federal Public Defender in Nevada (1989)

United States Attorney
  • Kathryn E. Landreth (1981):[4][20][22][23] First female U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada (1993-2001)

Public Defender
  • Terri Steik Roeser (1981):[4] First female Public Defender in Nevada (1987)

District Attorney
  • Edna C. Plummer (1907):[4][20] First female District Attorney in Nevada (1918)
  • Eileen Barnett (1979) and Virginia R. Shane (1980):[4] First female elected District Attorneys in Nevada
  • Patricia Dillon Cafferata:[20] First female to serve as the District Attorney for three counties in Nevada

City Attorney
  • Patricia A. Lynch (1973):[4][24] First female to serve as a City Attorney in Nevada (1987). She would later become a judge.
  • Sandra Morgan:[25] First African American female (and African American in general) to serve as a City Attorney in Nevada

Political Office

Bar Association
  • Margo Piscevich:[27][28] First female to serve as the President of the Nevada State Bar Association (1994-1995)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Carson City (City)
  • Sanaz "Sunny" K. Soltani:[29] First female to serve as the City Attorney for Carson City, Nevada

Clark County
  • Emilie N. Wanderer (1947):[30][31] First female lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada [Clark County, Nevada]
  • Miriam Shearing (1969):[14] First female elected Justice of the Peace in Las Vegas, Nevada (Clark County, Nevada; 1976)[4]
  • Sandra Morgan:[25] First African American female (and African American in general) to serve as a City Attorney in North Las Vegas [Clark County, Nevada]
  • Sally Loehrer:[20] First female President of the Clark County Bar Association in Nevada (1985)
  • Catherine Ramsey:[32] First female elected judge in Las Vegas, Nevada (Clark County, Nevada; 2011)
  • Diana Hampton:[33][34] First female elected Judge of the Henderson Municipal Court (Clark County, Nevada; 2005)
  • Tierra Jones:[35] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the Clark County District Court (2017)
  • Bita Yeager:[36] First Asian American (female) appointed to the Las Vegas Justice Court [Clark County, Nevada]

Douglas County
  • Nancy Rey Jackson:[37] First female to sit as a sworn judge of a Douglas County court (2004)

Elko County
  • Nancy Porter (1989):[38] First female judge in Elko County, Nevada

Esmeralda County

Eureka County
  • Edna C. Plummer (1907):[4][20] First female District Attorney of Eureka County, Nevada (1918)

Lander County

Lincoln County

Washoe County
  • Deborah A. Agosti and Robin A. Wright:[39][40][41] First females elected as Judges of the Washoe County District Court (1985)
  • Shirley Smith:[20] First female President of the Washoe County Bar Association in Nevada (1985)
  • Patricia A. Lynch (1973):[4][24] First female to serve as the City Attorney for Reno, Nevada (1987) [Washoe County, Nevada]

See also

Other topics of interest

References
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  2. "Attorney at Law Magazine Las Vegas Vol 2 #1 Page 14". Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  3. "Nevada State Journal from Reno, Nevada on May 20, 1932 · Page 5". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  4. Goodwin, Joanne; England, Kathleen J. (March 2011). "Pioneering Women in Nevada Law" (PDF). Nevada Lawyer.
  5. Alabama, Order of the Eastern Star Grand Chapter of; Iowa, Order of the Eastern Star Grand chapter of; Missouri, Order of the Eastern Star Grand chapter of (1931). Proceedings [of The] ... Annual Session ... s.n.
  6. "Felice Cohn | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  7. Anderson, Rachel J. (February 1, 2012). "Timeline of African-American Legal History in Nevada (1861–2011)". University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law Scholarly Commons @ UNLV Law. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  8. "In Memoriam Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird (1936 - 1999)" (PDF).
  9. "Justice of the Peace Karen P Bennett Haron". www.lasvegasjusticecourt.us. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  10. Anderson, Rachel J. (Winter 2013). "Blacks in the Nevada Legal Profession". NBA: 19.
  11. Nevada Lawyer: Official Publication of the State Bar of Nevada. State Bar of Nevada. 2005.
  12. "Some judges reversed more than others". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  13. AJPress. "US Senate confirms Nevada first Asian judge". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  14. Nevada Law Journal. William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Law Vegas. 2005.
  15. "Judge Abbi Silver". Supreme Court of Nevada. Archived from the original on 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  16. "Your Haas Network | Supreme Advocate - Summer 2017 - BerkeleyHaas Magazine". www.haas.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  17. "In Nevada's legal world, there's room for more 'first females'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2011-03-24. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  18. Nevada Lawyer: Official Publication of the State Bar of Nevada. State Bar of Nevada. 2000.
  19. "Some judges reversed more than others". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  20. Johnston, Robert (March 2011). "NEVADA'S FIRST LADIES OF LAW" (PDF). Nevada Lawyer: 18–27.
  21. "When Jews fought for suffrage". Washington Jewish Week. 2015-08-24. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  22. "Landreth in line for judge's post". LasVegasSun.com. 1997-05-21. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  23. "The Indy Explains: The federal court system and the Republican quest to reshape the judiciary". Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  24. Congressional Record, V. 151, Pt. 15, September 8 to September 22, 2005. Government Printing Office.
  25. "Nevada Gaming Control Board : About The Commission Members". gaming.nv.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  26. "Nevada Election Results 2016: Senate Live Map by County, Real-Time Voting Updates". Election Hub. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  27. "Lest We Forget those Who Came Before Us And Deny Their Rightful Place In History". digitaleditions.walsworthprintgroup.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  28. "Piscevich, Margo". International Women's Forum. 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  29. "Sanaz (Sunny) K. Soltani | Aleshire & Wynder, LLP - Attorneys at Law". www.awattorneys.com. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  30. "Wanderer, pioneer woman attorney in LV, dies at 102". LasVegasSun.com. 2005-03-04. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  31. Nevada Historical Society Quarterly. The Society. 2006.
  32. "North Las Vegas judge barred from re-election run, suspended without pay". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2016-08-25. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  33. "Henderson judge's death ruled accidental". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  34. "Henderson Judge Diana Hampton, 50, Found Dead at Her Home". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  35. "Event to Mark Appointment of 1st Black Female Nevada Judge". U.S. News & World Report. June 2, 2017.
  36. "Bita Yeager To Fill Hearing Master Post For Eighth Judicial District Court". Eighth Judicial District Court. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  37. All |. "Female judge a first for Douglas". www.tahoedailytribune.com. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  38. dswitalski@elkodaily.com, DANIELLE SWITALSKI —. "District's first female judge no stranger to her new workplace". Elko Daily Free Press. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  39. "Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada on May 23, 1993 · Page 6". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  40. "Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada on November 8, 1984 · Page 32". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  41. "Deborah A. Agosti - Historical Washoecourts". www.washoecourts.com. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
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