Sandra Day O'Connor was an American attorney,politician,and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. O'Connor was the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. A moderate conservative,O'Connor was known for her precisely researched opinions. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan,she was considered a swing vote for the Rehnquist Court and the first four months of the Roberts Court. Before O'Connor's tenure on the Court,she was an Arizona state judge and earlier an elected legislator in Arizona,serving as the first female majority leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate. Upon her nomination to the Court,O'Connor was confirmed unanimously by the Senate.
Maureen O'Connor is an American lawyer and judge who served as the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 2011 to 2022. She was elected to the court in 2002,becoming chief justice in 2010. She was the first woman to lead the Ohio Supreme Court and the longest serving woman elected statewide in Ohio's History.
Shirley Ann Mount Hufstedler was an American attorney and judge who served as the first U.S. Secretary of Education from 1979 to 1981. She previously served as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1968 to 1979.
Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson was the 25th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An American lawyer and jurist,she was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey,becoming the first female justice to serve on Wisconsin's highest court. She became the court's first female chief justice on August 1,1996,and served in that capacity until April 29,2015. In all,she served on the court for 43 years (1976–2019),making her the longest-serving justice in the history of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Dana Anderson Fabe is an American lawyer,retired judge,and mediator. She served as a justice of the Alaska Supreme Court from 1996 to 2016,including three terms as the court's chief justice. She previously served as an Alaska trial court judge for nearly eight years,from 1988 to 1996. Fabe was the first woman appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court,as well as its first female chief justice.
Mary Ann McMorrow was an Illinois Supreme Court chief justice.
Lorna Elizabeth Lockwood was an American lawyer and judge who served as justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.
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.
Debra McCloskey Todd is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Prior to her election to the Supreme Court in 2007,she served as a judge on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from 2000 through 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Statewide primary elections for various state offices were held in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on May 15,2007. Pennsylvania's general elections were then held statewide on November 6,2007.
Yvette McGee Brown became the first African-American female justice on the Ohio Supreme Court when she took office on January 1,2011. She was the founding president of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide Children's Hospital,and was a judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for nine years.
Cynthia Baldwin is an American jurist who was a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after serving sixteen years as a Pennsylvania County Court judge. Baldwin was the first African-American woman elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and the second African-American woman to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She retired from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2008. After her retirement from the Court,she became a partner with Duane Morris and served as the first General Counsel for the Pennsylvania State University.
Wilhelmina Marie Wright is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. She is the only jurist in Minnesota's history to be state district court judge,appellate court judge and state supreme court justice. She was formerly an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court,a judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals,and a judge of the Minnesota District Court,Second Judicial District.
Pamela Ann Harris is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining the federal bench,she was an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School,and visiting professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and executive director of its Supreme Court Institute.
Cheryl Lynn Allen became the first African-American woman to be elected to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. A Pittsburgh native and former Pittsburgh public school teacher,Judge Allen is a graduate of Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
This is a short timeline of women lawyers in the United States. Much more information on the subject can be found at:List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
Women in law describes the role played by women in the legal profession and related occupations,which includes lawyers,paralegals,prosecutors,judges,legal scholars,law professors and law school deans.
Elizabeth D. "Beth" Walker is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals since 2023. 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.
Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya Mlokoti is the first female South African Deputy Chief Justice. She is also the first female jurist who has served as President of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa (SCA) since 26 May 2017 until 31 August 2022 and the first female chancellor of University of Mpumalanga since 1 July 2021. She had previously served as a judge in the Mthatha High Court,as a puisne judge of the SCA and as Deputy President of the SCA,as well as holding acting positions in various courts.
