List of first women lawyers and judges in Massachusetts
This is a list of the first women lawyer and judge in Massachusetts. 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
Lawyers
- Lelia J. Robinson : First female lawyer in Massachusetts
- Anna Christy Fall : First female lawyer to argue a case before a jury in Massachusetts
- Margaret M. McChesney : First female lawyer to appear before the full bench of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
- Branche E. Braxton : First African American female lawyer in Massachusetts. She is also the first African American female lawyer to practice in the United States District Court in Massachusetts in 1933.
- Jacqueline R. Guild Lloyd : First African American female lawyer to follow her father to the bar and practice law with him
- Katherine Triantafillou : First openly LGBT lawyer in Massachusetts
Judicial Officers
State
Judges
- Emma Fall Schofield and Sadie Lipner Shulman : First female judges in Massachusetts
- Ethel E. Mackiernan : First female appointed to a full judgeship and become a presiding judge in Massachusetts
- Margaret Burnham: First African American female judge in Massachusetts
- María López : First Latino American female judge in Massachusetts
- Sabita Singh : First Indian American female judge in Massachusetts
- Eleanor Coe Sinnott: First Korean Americ
an female judge in Massachusetts Trial Court
Superior Court
- Jennie Loitman Barron : First female Associate Judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court
Probate and Family Court
- Judith Nelson Dilday : First person of color appointed as a Judge of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court
Appellate Court
- Charlotte Anne Perretta: First female to serve as a Judge of the Massachusetts Appeals Court
- Geraldine Hines: First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Massachusetts Appeals Court
Supreme Judicial Court
- Ruth Abrams: First female to serve as a Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
- Margaret H. Marshall: First female to serve as the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
- Barbara Lenk : First openly LGBT female appointed as a Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Federal
District Court
- Indira Talwani : First Asian Pacific American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Denise J. Casper : First African American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Carol. J. Kenner
Attorneys General
- Martha Coakley : First female serve as the Attorney General of Massachusetts
Maura Healey : First openly LGBT female to serve as the Attorney General of Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General
- Emma Fall Schofield : First female Assistant Attorney General in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- Glendora Putnam : First African American female to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts
United States Attorney
- Carmen Ortiz : First female to be appointed as the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts
District Attorney
- Elizabeth “Betsy” Scheibel: First female to become a District Attorney in Massachusetts
- Rachael Rollins: First African American female to become a District Attorney in Massachusetts
Bar Association
- Alice E. Richmond: First female to serve as the President of the State Bar of Massachusetts
Firsts in local history
Berkshire County
- Harriet L. Kilbourne : First female admitted to the Berkshire County Bar Association
- Andrea Harrington: First female District Attorney for Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Bristol County
- Mary E. Hyde: First female lawyer in Fall River, Massachusetts
Franklin County
- Elizabeth “Betsy” Scheibel: First female to serve as the District Attorney for the Northwestern District in Massachusetts
Hampden County
- Elvah H. Young : First female lawyer in Hampden County, Massachusetts
Hampshire County
- Elizabeth “Betsy” Scheibel: First female to serve as the District Attorney for the Northwestern District in Massachusetts
Middlesex County
- Martha Coakley : First female District Attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- Ruth Abrams: First female to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- Haben Girma : First deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School
- Arlene Hassett: First female judge in Lowell, Massachusetts
Norfolk County
- Anna E. Hirsch: First female elected as the Registrar of Probate in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Suffolk County
- Katherine Triantafillou : First openly LGBT lawyer in Massachuset
ts - Gene D. Dahmen: First female President of the Boston Bar Association
- Rachael Rollins: First female to become a District Attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Worcester County
- Stephanie Grant : First female admitted to the Worcester Bar Association
- Addie Gillette : First female lawyer to actually practice in Worchester County, Massachusetts
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 Massachusetts