Firsts in Oregon's history
Lawyers
- First female: Mary Leonard (1885) [1]
- First African American female: Mercedes Deiz (1960) [2]
Law Clerk
State judges
- First female (temporary): Ethel Graham in 1914 [5]
- First female: Mary Jane Spurlin (1924) [6]
- First female (circuit court): Jean Lagerquist Lewis (1938) in 1961 [7] [8] [9]
- First African American female: Mercedes Deiz (1960) in 1969 [2]
- First female (Oregon Court of Appeals): Betty Roberts (1966) in 1977 [10]
- First female (Supreme Court of Oregon): Betty Roberts (1966) in 1982 [10]
- First openly lesbian female: Janice Wilson in 1991 [11] [12]
- First females (tax court): Jill A. Tanner and Coyreen Weidner in 1997 [10]
- First female (Chief Judge; Oregon Court of Appeals): Mary Deits in 1997 [13]
- First Hispanic American female (Oregon Court of Appeals): Darleen Ortega (1989) in 2003 [14]
- First African American (female) (appellate court): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2006 [15] [16] [17]
- First Asian American female: Youlee Yim You in 2007 [14] [18]
- First openly lesbian female (Supreme Court of Oregon): Virginia Linder (1980) in 2007 [19] [20]
- First openly lesbian and Asian American (female) (Oregon Court of Appeals): Lynn Nakamoto (1985) in 2011 [21] [22]
- First openly lesbian and Asian American (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Lynn Nakamoto (1985) in 2015 [21] [22]
- First African American (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2018 [15] [16]
- First female (Chief Justice; Supreme Court of Oregon): Martha Lee Walters in 2018 [23]
- First Laotian American (female): Chanpone Sinlapasai in 2022 [24]
- First South Asian (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Aruna Masih in 2023 [25]
- First Arab American (female) and first Muslim American (female) (Multnomah County Circuit Court): Rima Ghandour in 2023.
Federal judges
- First female (U.S. District Court of Oregon): Helen Frye (1966) in 1980 [26]
- First female (U.S. Bankruptcy Court): Polly Higden in 1983 [27] [10] [28]
- First female (magistrate; United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Janice Stewart in 1993 [18]
- First female (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Susan P. Graber (1972) in 1998 [29]
- First female (Chief Judge; United States District Court Judge for the District of Oregon): Ann Aiken (1979) in 2009
- First Asian American (female) (magistrate; United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Youlee Yim You in 2016 [14] [18]
- First Asian American (female) (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Jennifer Sung in 2021 [30]
- First African American female (United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2023 [15] [16]
Attorney General
- First [Jewish] female: Ellen Rosenblum (1975) in 2012 [31] [32]
Assistant Attorney General
- First (African American) female (Department of Justice): Armonica Gilford (1981) in 1989 [33]
Solicitor General
- First openly lesbian female: Virginia Linder (1980) from 1986-1997 [19] [20]
United States Attorney
- First female (law clerk): Susan P. Graber (1972) [29]
Political Office
- First openly bisexual female (governor): Kate Brown (1985) in 2015 [34]
