Firsts in state history
Law School
- Hattie Ruth Elam Briscoe: [1] [2] [3] First African American female to graduate from law school in Texas (1956)
Lawyers
- Edith W. Locke (1902): [4] [5] First female admitted to practice law in Texas, though she did not exercise the right
- Hortense Sparks Ward (1910): [6] [7] First female lawyer in Texas, as well as the first female admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court (1915)
- Florence Bates (1914): [8] One of the first female lawyers in Texas. She would leave the profession and become a Hollywood actress later in life.
- Beverly Tarpley (1952): [9] [10] [11] First female lawyer in Texas to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court
- Charlye O. Farris (1953): [12] First African American female lawyer in Texas
- Edna Cisneros (1955) and Diana Cisneros Klefisch (1956): [13] [14] First Hispanic American female lawyers in Texas
Judicial Officers
State
Judges
- Sarah T. Hughes (1922): [15] First female judge in Texas (1935) [16]
- Charlye O. Farris (1953): [12] First African American female to serve as a judge pro tem in Texas (1954)
- Harriet Mitchell Murphy (1969): [17] [18] [19] First African American female judge in Texas (1973)
- Wendy Duong: [20] First Vietnamese American (female) judge in Texas (1992)
- Orlinda Naranjo: [21] First Latino American female elected to a countywide judgeship in Texas (1994)
- Barbara Hartle: [22] First openly LGBT female judge in Texas (2006)
- Phyllis Frye (1981): [23] [24] First openly LGBT judge in Texas (2010)
- Tonya Parker: [25] First openly LGBT African American (female) elected to a judicial seat in Texas (2010)
- Rabeea Sultan Collier: [26] [27] First Muslim American and Pakistani American (female) judge in Texas (2019)
- Manpreet Monica Singh: [28] First Sikh female judge in Texas (2023)
County Court
Municipal Court
- Barbara Hartle: [22] First openly LGBT female to become a municipal court judge in Texas (2006)
- Phyllis Frye (1981): [23] [24] First openly LGBT individual appointed as a municipal court judge in Texas (2010)
District Court
- Sarah T. Hughes (1922): [15] First female appointed as a Judge of the District Court in Texas (1935)
- Elma Salinas Ender (1978): [32] First Latino American female to serve as a state district court judge in Texas (1983) [33]
- Mary Roman: [34] First Latino American female elected as a state district court judge in Texas (1992)
- Kristen Hawkins (2000): [35] [36] First female elected as a Judge of the Eleventh District Court in Texas (2017)
- Renee Rodriguez-Betancourt: [37] [38] [39] First female to become the youngest district court judge in Texas (2017) [40]
Court of Appeals
- Shirley W. Butts (1954): [41] First female appointed as Justice of the Fourth Court of Appeals in Texas (1981)
- Camille Hutson–Dunn (1963): [42] First female appointed as a Justice of the First Court of Appeals in Texas (1984)
- Alice Oliver–Parrott: First female to serve as a Chief Justice in the Texas Court of Appeals (1991-1996) [43]
- Gaynelle Griffin Jones: [44] [45] First African American female to serve as an appellate court judge in Texas (1992) [46]
- Linda Reyna Yanez: [47] First female to serve as a Justice of the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in Texas (1993)
- Leanne Johnson: [48] First female elected to serve as a Justice of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for Texas (2014)
- Dori Contreras: [47] First female justice appointed as the Chief Justice of the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in Texas (2019) [49]
- Frances Bourliot: [50] First Asian American female elected as an appellate court judge in Texas (2020) [51]
- Robbie Partida-Kipness: [52] First Hispanic American (female) to serve as a Judge of the Fifth Court of Appeals in Texas (2018)
- Yvonne T. Rodriguez: [53] First Latino American female to serve as the Chief Justice of the Eighth Court of Appeals (2021)
Criminal Court of Appeals
- Sharon Keller (1978): [54] First female to serve as the Presiding Judge of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals (2000)
- Elsa Alcala: [54] First Latino American female to serve as a Judge of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals (2011)
Supreme Court
- Margaret Harris Amsler (1937): [55] First female to serve as the Marshall of the Supreme Court of Texas (1941)
- Ruby Kless Sondock (1961): [56] First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (1982)
- Rose Spector: [57] First female (who was also Jewish) elected as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (1992)
- Eva Guzman: [58] First Hispanic female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (2009)
Federal
District Court
- Sarah T. Hughes (1922): [15] First female appointed as a Judge of the Federal District Court (1961) in Texas
- Barbara M.G. Lynn (1976): [59] First female to become the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (2016)
- Gabrielle Kirk McDonald: [10] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the Southern District of Texas (1979)
- Hilda G. Tagle: [60] [61] First Hispanic American female to serve as an appellate judge in Texas [62]
- Alia Moses (1986): [63] [64] First female as a Judge of the U.S. States District Court for the Western District of Texas (2002) and its Chief Judge (2022)
- Brenda T. Rhoades: [65] [66] First Asian American (female) to serve as a Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Texas (2003)
- Judith K. Guthrie: [67] First female appointed as a Magistrate Judge of the U.S. States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- Karen Gren Scholer: [68] First Asian American (female) U.S. district court judge in Texas (2018)
- Ada E. Brown: [69] First African American and Native American female to serve as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (2019)
Court of Appeals
- Carolyn Dineen King: [70] First female to serve as the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1999)
Deputy Attorney General
- Elizabeth B. Lacy: [71] First female to serve as the Deputy Attorney General for Texas (1973)
Assistant Attorney General
District Attorney
- Bonnie Leggat Hagan: [74] First female to become a District Attorney in Texas
- Edna Cisneros (1955): [13] [14] First Hispanic American female to become a District Attorney in Texas
Assistant District Attorney
United States Attorney
- Gaynelle Griffin Jones: [44] [45] First female (and African American female) to serve as a U.S. Attorney for Texas (1993-1997)
- Sarah Saldaña: [77] First Latino American female to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas (2011)
County Attorney
- Nellie Gray Robertson: [78] [79] First female to serve as a County Attorney in Texas (1918)
Political Office
- Barbara Jordan (1959): [80] First African American female lawyer elected to the Texas Senate (1966)
- Irma L. Rangel (1969): [81] [82] First Hispanic American female elected to the Texas State Legislature (1976)
- Sylvia Garcia (1978) and Veronica Escobar: [83] [84] First Hispanic American females (both former judges) elected to Congress in Texas (2018)
- Nandita Berry (1995): [57] First Indian American female (and Indian American in general; a lawyer) to serve as the Secretary of State for Texas (c. 2014)
- Jolanda Jones (1995): [85] First openly lesbian African American (a lawyer) elected to the Texas State Legislature (upon winning a special election in House District 147 in 2022)
Bar Association
- Harriet Miers (1970): [86] First female to serve as President of the State Bar of Texas (1992)
- Lisa Tatum: [87] First African American female (and African American in general) to serve as the President of the State Bar of Texas (2013-2014)
- Sylvia Borunda Firth: [88] First Hispanic American female to serve as the President of the State Bar of Texas (2020)