List of first women lawyers and judges in Virginia

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Virginia. 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
Belva Ann Lockwood: First female lawyer to practice before the Virginia federal court (1879)
Barbara Milano Keenan: First female Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Law degree
  • Elizabeth N. Tompkins and Jane Brown Ranson:[1][2] First females to graduate from law school in Virginia (1923)

Lawyers
  • Belva Ann Lockwood:[3][4][5] First female to practice law before the Virginia federal court (1879)
  • Rebecca Pearl Lovenstein and Carrie M. Gregory:[2][6] First females licensed to practice law in Virginia (1920)
  • Mildred Callahan:[2] First female admitted to practice law before the Virginia Supreme Court (1923)
  • Lavinia Marian Fleming Poe (1925):[7] First African American female lawyer in Virginia
  • Alda White:[8] First African American female to work as a local government full-time attorney in Virginia
Judges
  • Mary Kerr Moorehead Harris:[9][10] First female judge in Virginia (1922)
  • Anna Fancher Hedrick (1930):[11][12][13] First female county court judge in Virginia (1951)
  • Angela Roberts:[14][15] First African American female judge in Virginia (1990)
  • Maha-Rebekah Abejuela:[16] First Asian American female judge in Virginia (2019)
Circuit Court
  • Eileen A. Olds (1982):[17] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the First Judicial Circuit in Virginia (1995)
District Court
  • Anita Filson:[18] First female appointed as a Judge of the Twenty-Fifth Judicial District in Virginia (2001)
Supreme Court
Bankruptcy Court
  • Klinette H. Kindred (1970):[25][26] First female (and African American female) appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (2017)
District Court
  • Arenda L. Wright Allen (1985):[27] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (2011)
  • Elizabeth K. Dillon (1986):[28] First female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia (2014)
Appellate Court
  • Allyson Kay Duncan (1975):[29] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (2003)
  • Barbara Milano Keenan (1991):[30] First female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She has also served as a judge on all levels of Virginia's court system.

Attorney General

Deputy Attorney General

Bar Association
  • Anita Poston and Jeanne Franklin:[32] First females to serve respectively as the President of the Virginia Bar Association (2000-2001; 2001-2002)
  • Doris Henderson Causey:[33] First African American female (and African American in general) to serve as the President of the Virginia State Bar (2017)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Arlington County
  • Eleanor Dobson (1974):[34] First female judge in Arlington County, Virginia (1982)

Frederick County
  • Lee Lovett (1947):[35][36] First female lawyer in Winchester, Virginia [Frederick County, Virginia]

Harrisonburg, City of
  • Rachel Figura:[37] First female judge for the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia (2019)

Loudoun County
  • Lorrie A. Sinclair Taylor:[38] First African American (female) judge in Loudoun County, Virginia (2020)

Portsmouth, City of
  • Stephanie Morales:[39] First female elected as the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Portsmouth, Virginia (2015)

Prince William County

Richmond, City of
  • Phoebe Hall:[41] First female to serve as the Public Defender for Richmond, Virginia

Rockingham County
  • Rachel Figura:[37] First female judge for the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia (2019)

Stafford County
  • Alda White:[8] First female (and African American female) to serve as the County Attorney for Stafford County, Virginia

See also

Other topics of interest

References
  1. "Arthur J. Morris Law Library | People | Elizabeth N. Tompkins". archives.law.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  2. "Making Strides Toward a More Inclusive Bar" (PDF). The Bar at Work: 1888-2013. 2013.
  3. "Meet the First Woman to Run a Full Presidential Campaign | Washingtonian". Washingtonian. 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  4. Norgren, Jill (March 2007). Belva Lockwood: The Woman who Would be President. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-5834-2.
  5. Burns, Brian (2017). Gilded Age Richmond: Gaiety, Greed & Lost Cause Mania. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62585-851-1.
  6. Wallenstein, Peter (2013-02-20). Blue Laws and Black Codes: Conflict, Courts, and Change in Twentieth-Century Virginia. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2487-8.
  7. "Lavina Marian Fleming Poe, 1st Black woman lawyer in Virginia, 1925". J. Clay Smith Selected Photographs. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  8. "Stafford County, VA". Stafford County, VA. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  9. "Virginia's First Woman Judge Assumes Office". 1922-10-08. p. 6. ISSN 1941-0697. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  10. "Woman Judge is Sworn In By Danville Court". 1922-10-11. p. 11. ISSN 1941-0697. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  11. Virginia (1994). Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Commonwealth of Virginia, Division of Purchases and Supply.
  12. Writer, SCOTT McCAFFREY, Staff. "90 Years Later, Arlington Elected Officials Reflect on 19th Amendment". INSIDENOVA.COM. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  13. "Important Women in Loudoun's History". www.connectionnewspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  14. "After 26 years, Judge Roberts retiring from juvenile court". Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  15. "Judge Roberts". Richmond Justice. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  16. Jouvenal, Justin (September 28, 2019). "Former prosecutor becomes first Asian American woman to be judge in Va". The Washington Post.
  17. "Judge Eileen A. Olds '82 Inaugurated as President of American Judges Association | William & Mary Law School". law.wm.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  18. 981-3319, Alicia Petska alicia.petska@roanoke.com. "Chris Clemens, Tom Roe tapped for Roanoke Valley judgeships". Martinsville Bulletin. Retrieved 2018-02-10.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. Kettlewell, Caroline (2017-12-27). "Women in the Law". VirginiaLiving.com. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
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  21. Sherwood, Tom (April 7, 1985). "Lacy Breaks Tradition of All-Male SCC in Va". Washington Post.
  22. Group, Sinclair Broadcast. "Cleo Powell, Va.'s first black female justice to be sworn in". WJLA. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  23. "Virginia's 1st black female justice sworn in". DeseretNews.com. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  24. Cooper, Alan (2010-08-31). "Kinser to be next chief justice". Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  25. "Points of Pride - Virginia State University". www.vsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  26. "Judicial News". www.olddominionbarassociation.com. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  27. Barnes, Robert; Fahrenthold, David A. (2014-02-14). "Who's the judge in Va. gay-marriage ban case? A seeker of a 'more perfect' freedom". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  28. "Senate Confirms Elizabeth Dillon to Western District Federal Bench". Mark R. Warner. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  29. "Judge Roger Gregory Makes History Again". The Seattle Medium. 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
  30. Jackman, Tom (2009-09-15). "Longtime Va. Judge Nominated for U.S. Appeals Court Has Been a Trailblazer". ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  31. "Library of Virginia - Virginia Women in History 2009". www.lva.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  32. "Female Presidents Of The Virginia Bar Association". www.omagdigital.com. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  33. Bondurant, Jordan (2017-06-26). "Doris Causey making VSB history". Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  34. "Eleanor Dobson - Wednesday, September 18th, 2013". www.bakerpostfh.com. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
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  37. News-Record, PETE DELEA Daily. "New Judge Chosen — Bridgewater Woman To Hear Juvenile, Domestic Relations Cases". Daily News-Record. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  38. tbaratko@loudountimes.com, Trevor Baratko. "Loudoun County will soon have its first black judge; General Assembly approves Sinclair Taylor, Snow". LoudounTimes.com. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  39. "Portsmouth's Stephanie Morales is setting new standards for accountability". Medium. 2017-11-01. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  40. Berti, Daniel. "General Assembly approves first Latino judge for Prince William". Prince William Times. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  41. WILSON, PATRICK. "Phoebe Hall, VCU rector and Richmond's first female public defender, dies". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
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