List of first women lawyers and judges in Alabama
This is a list of the first women lawyer and judge in Alabama. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law. 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
Law degree holders
- Floella T. Bonner
- Virginia Henry Mayfield
Lawyers
- Maud McLure Kelly : First female lawyer in Alabama
- Mahala Ashley Dickerson : First African American female lawyer in Alabama
Judicial Officers
Judges
- Virginia Henry Mayfield: First female judge in Alabama
- Faya Ora Rose Touré: First African American female judge in Alabama
- Deborah Biggers : First female elected as a state court judge in Alabama
- Phyllis S. Nesbit: First female elected as a trial judge in Alabama
Probate Court
- Earlean Isaac: First African American female to become a probate judge in Alabama
District Court
- Sharon Lovelace Blackburn: First female appointed as a district court judge in Alabama
- Shannon Clark: First female appointed as a Judge of the Twelfth District in Alabama
Circuit Court
- Inge Prytz Johnson : First female appointed as a Judge of the Circuit Court
- Kimberly Clark : First female appointed as a Judge of the Thirty-Third Judicial Circuit in Alabama
Appellate Court
- Annie Lola Price : First female appointed as a Judge of the Alabama Court of Appeals
Supreme Court
- Janie Shores : First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama
- Sue Bell Cobb : First female justice appointed as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
Attorney General
- Alice Martin : First female to serve as the Acting Attorney General of Alabama
United States Attorney
- Alice Martin : First female appointed as a U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama
Assistant United States Attorney
- Callie "Ginny" V. Granade : First female appointed as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
District Attorneys
- Janice Clardy: First female to serve as a District Attorney in Alabama
- Lynneice Washington : First African American female to become a District Attorney in Alabama
Assistant District Attorney
- Judith "Judy" Crittenden : First female to become an Assistant District Attorney in Alabama
Political Office
- Terri Sewell and Martha Roby : First females elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama. Sewell has the added distinction of being the first African American female elected to Congress.
Bar Association
- Alyce Manley: First female to become President of the Alabama State Bar Association
Firsts in local history
Autauga County
- Janice Clardy: First female to serve as a District Attorney in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of Alabama
Baldwin County
- Phyllis S. Nesbit: First female elected as a Judge of the Baldwin County District Court. She was also the first female President of the Baldwin County Bar Association, Alabama.
Blount County
- Sherry Burns: First female judge in Blount County, Alabama
Chilton County
- Janice Clardy: First female to serve as a District Attorney in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of Alabama
Coffee County
- Shannon Clark: First female district court judge for Coffee and Pike Counties, Alabama
Conecuh County
- Sue Bell Cobb : First female judge in Conecuh County, Alabama
Covington County
- Eugenia Lee Loggins : First female lawyer in the city of Opp and Covington County, Alabama
Cullman County
- Juliet St. John Given : First female lawyer in Cullman County, Alabama
Dale County
- Kimberly Clark: First female circuit court judge in Dale and Geneva Counties, Alabama
Elmore County
- Janice Clardy: First female to serve as a District Attorney in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of Alabama
Geneva County
- Kimberly Clark: First female circuit court judge in Dale and Geneva Counties, Alabama
Greene County
- Earlean Isaac: First African American female to become a Judge of the Greene County Probate Court in Alabama
Houston County
- Lori Collier Ingram: First female district court judge in Houston County, Alabama
Jefferson County
- Nina Miglionico: First female to become a member of the Birmingham City Council
- Judith "Judy" Crittenden : First female to become an Assistant District Attorney in Jefferson County, Alabama
- Agnes Chappell : First African American female lawyer in Jefferson County, Alabama. She would later become a judge.
- Helen Shores Lee : First African American female to become a Judge of the Civil Division of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County
- Kira Fonteneau: First female to head the then newly-created Jefferson County Public Defender Office
- Lynneice Washington : First female District Attorney in Jefferson County, Alabama
- Elisabeth French: First female to serve as the Presiding Judge of the Jefferson County Court in Alabama
Lauderdale County
- Deborah Bell Paseur : First female lawyer in Lauderdale County, Alabama. She would later become a judge.
- Angie Hamilton: First female to serve as an Assistant District Attorney for Lauderdale County, Alabama
Lawrence County
- Angela Dawson Terry : First female district judge in Lawrence County, Alabama
Macon County
- Linda W.H. Henderson: First female to become President of the Macon County Bar Association
Marshall County
- Andrea LeCroy: First female probate judge in Marshall County, Alabama
Mobile County
- Frankie Fields Smith: First African American female to serve as a Municipal Court Judge in Mobile County, Alabama
- Ashley Rich: First female District Attorney of Mobile County, Alabama
Perry County
- Eldora Anderson: First African American female probate judge in Perry County, Alabama
Pike County
- Shannon Clark: First female district court judge for Coffee and Pike Counties, Alabama
Randolph County
- Amy Newsome: First female district court judge in Randolph County, Alabama
St. Clair County
- Brandi Williams: First female municipal court judge in St. Clair County, Alabama
Shelby County
- Patricia M. Smith: First female judge in Shelby County, Alabama
- Jill Lee: First female to become District Attorney for Shelby County, Alabama
Tuscaloosa County
- Virginia H. Mayfield: First female judge in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
- Jane Kimbrough Dishuck : First female lawyer in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
- Mabey Yerby Lawson: First female to earn a law degree from the University of Alabama
Wilcox County
- Briana Westry-Robinson: First African-American female to be appointed as the youngest judge in Wilcox County, Alabama
Other topics of interest
- List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
- List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Alabama