This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in West 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 graduate from law school or become a political figure.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 to 1915, it was also required by state law to hold sessions in Charles Town in the state's Eastern Panhandle. The court also holds special sittings at various locations across the state.
George Wesley Atkinson, a cavalryman, lawyer, politician, judge and scholar, became the 10th Governor of West Virginia after running as the candidate of the Republican Party. He also served in the West Virginia House of Delegates, as well as in the U.S. Congress from West Virginia and ended his career of public service as a United States federal judge of the Court of Claims.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit.
Margaret Lee Workman is an American lawyer and a former justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Her 1988 election to the Supreme Court made her the first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia and first female Justice on the Court.
Menis E. Ketchum II is an American politician and jurist who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He was elected as a Democrat to a twelve-year term on the Court in November 2008 and served as chief justice in 2012 and served a second term as chief justice in 2016. He resigned in July 2018 with slightly less than 18 months left in his term. Ketchum resigned prior to the Impeachment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, but was still implicated by the House of Delegates. On July 31, 2018, he pled guilty to a felony count of fraud related to his personal use of a state vehicle and gas fuel card.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in West Virginia since October 9, 2014. On July 28, 2014, a ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bostic v. Schaefer found Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Bostic, allowing the ruling to take effect. As a result, on October 9, 2014, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin announced he was ordering state agencies to act in compliance with the controlling precedent in the Virginia case. Even though West Virginia's ban had not been explicitly declared unconstitutional, the Fourth Circuit precedent made it certain the state's statutory ban would be overturned. The state started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples that same day. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia officially ruled the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional on November 7, 2014.
Irene Cornelia Berger is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Robert Booth Goodwin II is an American attorney with Goodwin & Goodwin LLP in Charleston, West Virginia. He served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia from 2010 until 2015. Goodwin was a candidate for Governor of West Virginia in 2016.
William Gordon Mathews was a Federal judge and lawyer from Charleston, West Virginia, serving as Referee in Bankruptcy for Kanawha, West Virginia 1898-1908, and Clerk of the Court for Kanawha 1903-1904.
Meshea La'Shawn Poore is an American lawyer and politician from the state of West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Poore served in the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 37th district.
Elizabeth D. "Beth" Walker is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals since 2017. She was elected in the Court's first non-partisan election on May 10, 2016. She began a 12-year term on January 1, 2017. Walker is the 77th justice to serve on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the same office in 2008. She has served as chief justice in 2019 and 2023.
East Bank High School was a public high school in East Bank, West Virginia in Kanawha County. Its teams competed as the Pioneers. It closed in 1999 in a consolidation with Dupont High School to form Riverside High School.
C. Haley Bunn is an American attorney who was appointed to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
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