Charlotte Hunter Arley (April 2, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

who participated in the

Petticoat A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing, a type of undergarment worn under a skirt or a dress. Its precise meaning varies over centuries and between countries. According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', in current British Engl ...

s Trial, which was the first trial in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

where two female advocates faced off against each other.

Personal life

Arley was born in

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Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

to Ukrainian Jewish parents, who had emigrated to the United States in 1910. Her parents, Morris and Charlotte Hunter, had four children: three daughters and one son. Arley was an avid traveler who worked in the

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

gift shop in the mid-1930s. She got married in Hawaii, where she was one of the last people to leave the island before the commencement of World War II. Her marriage would end in divorce. She later moved to

to follow her father. In Reno, she met and married Jacques Arley, a former member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. They lived in

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for fifteen years, but she moved back to Reno after Jacques died.

Legal Practice

She graduated high school early, and at sixteen, Arley enrolled in

Northeastern University School of Law Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as an evening program to meet the needs of its local community, NUSL is nationally recognized for its cooperative legal ed ...

, but she was too young to take the Bar when she graduated in 1932. She volunteered in a legal clinic, and worked three other jobs, until she was old enough to take and pass the Massachusetts Bar in 1935. After passing the Bar, she worked in the legal department at the

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, where she was the only female lawyer. After moving to Reno, she was admitted to the Nevada Bar in 1947. Only two other women passed the bar that year, and only two other women were practicing in Reno at the time. She was a plaintiff's attorney, who litigated

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

personal injury Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the person bringing the suit (t ...

, and

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

cases. She appealed several cases to the

Nevada Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Nevada is the highest state court of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the head of the Nevada Judiciary. The main constitutional function of the Supreme Court is to review appeals made directly from the decisions of the distric ...

and secured several victories. In 1949, she represented Reno at the

International Federation of Women Lawyers The International Federation of Women Lawyers (IFWL), in Spanish ''Federación Internacional de Abogadas'' (FIDA), is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that enhances the status of women and children by providing legal aid, legal ...

in Rome, Italy. In 1952, she began to represent a client in a matter that would become known as the

s Trial. The press selected the name of a woman's garment because it was the first trial in Washoe County with opposing female

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

s. The defendant was represented by Nada Novokovich, another female lawyer. It was also the first jury trial for both Arley and Novokovich. Arley's client alleged that he was pushed off of a bar stool and brought a lawsuit in state court. Arley won the case and the client was awarded $3,000. In 2007, Arley was honored with a plaque in the Judge John S. Belford's courtroom where the Petticoats Trial was argued. In 1989, Arley was the first woman to be honored as an outstanding woman attorney in Northern Nevada. She was selected unanimously. Arley continued to practice law in her eighties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arley, Charlotte Hunter 1912 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers