This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. 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.
Firsts in Georgia's history
Law School
![Viola_Ross_Napier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Viola_Ross_Napier.png)
* First female law graduate:
Minnie Anderson Hale in 1911
Lawyers
*First females:
Minnie Anderson Hale,
Betty Reynolds Cobb and
Mary C. Johnson (1916)
* First female to practice before the
Georgia Court of Appeals
The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia.
History Founding of the court
The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, ...
and the
Supreme Court of Georgia:
Viola Ross Napier (1920) in 1922
*First African American female:
Rachel E. Pruden-Herndon (1942)
*First Asian American (female; Filipino descent): Ruby Carpio Bell (1964)
State judges
*First female: Annie Ogburn Anderson in 1922
*First African American females: Romae Turner Powell and
Edith Jacqueline Ingram Grant in 1968-1969
*First female (court of record): Dorothy Robinson in 1972
*First female elected (without prior judicial service): Rufe McCombs Maulsby in 1975
*First female elected (superior court):
Phyllis A. Kravitch (1943) in 1976
*First female (
Georgia Court of Appeals
The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia.
History Founding of the court
The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, ...
): Dorothy Beasley (1969) in 1984
*First female (temporary judge;
Georgia Supreme Court): Dorothy Robinson in 1985
* First African American female (superior court):
Leah Ward Sears
Leah Ward Sears (born June 13, 1955) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Sears was the first African-American female chief justice of a state supreme court in the United States. When she was first ap ...
(1980) in 1988
*First African American female (Chief Presiding Judge of a Georgia court):
Glenda Hatchett
Glenda A. Hatchett (born May 31, 1951) is the star of the former court show, ''Judge Hatchett'' and current day ''The Verdict with Judge Hatchett'', and founding partner at the national law firm, The Hatchett Firm.
Early life and education
Hatc ...
(1977) in 1990
*First (African American) female (
Georgia Supreme Court; Chief Justice):
Leah Ward Sears
Leah Ward Sears (born June 13, 1955) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Sears was the first African-American female chief justice of a state supreme court in the United States. When she was first ap ...
(1980) in 1992 and 2005 respectively
*First female (
Georgia Court of Appeals
The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia.
History Founding of the court
The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, ...
; appointed without judicial experience): Anne Elizabeth Barnes in 1999
* First African American female (
Georgia Court of Appeals
The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia.
History Founding of the court
The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, ...
; Chief Judge):
M. Yvette Miller started judicial service in 1999
*First Korean American female: Chong J. Kim in 2000
*First Latino American female: Carolina Colin-Antonini in 2001
*First Asian American (female) (
Georgia Court of Appeals
The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia.
History Founding of the court
The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, ...
):
Carla Wong McMillian in 2013
*First Filipino American (female): Rizza O’Connor in 2013
*First South Asian (female): Jaslovelin Jessy Lall in 2015
*First Asian American female (temporary and permanent judge;
Georgia Supreme Court):
Carla Wong McMillian in 2015 and 2020
*First Jamaican American (female): Jewel Scott in 2020
*First Asian American female (juvenile court): Nahn-Ai Simms in 2020
*First Asian American female (Korean descent) (probate court): Sandra Pak in 2020
*First Persian American female: Ashley Drake in 2020
*First African American female (appointed by a Republican governor;
Georgia Court of Appeals
The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia.
History Founding of the court
The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, ...
):
Verda Colvin
Verda M. Colvin (born 1964/1965) is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and former judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Education
Colvin received her bachelor's degree from Sweet Briar College and her Juris Doctor from the ...
in 2020
*First Asian American female (County Recorder’s Court): Mihae Park in 2021
*First Latino American female (trial court): Ana Maria Martinez in 2022
Federal judges
* First female (
; Chief Judge):
Orinda Dale Evans (1968) in 1979 and 1999 respectively
* First African American female (Article III judge):
Leslie Abrams Gardner
Leslie Abrams Gardner (''née'' Leslie Joyce Abrams; born December 6, 1974) is a U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she was an Assistant United State ...
in 2014
* First female (
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* Eastern District of Louisiana
* M ...
; prior to the state's removal):
Phyllis A. Kravitch (1943) in 1979
* First female (United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit):
Frank M. Hull (1973) in 1997
Assistant Attorney General of Georgia
* First female: Rubye Jackson
United States Attorney
* First female (
Northern District of Georgia
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (in case citations, N.D. Ga.) is a United States district court which serves the residents of forty-six counties. These are divided up into four divisions.
Appeals from cases ...
):
Sally Yates
Sally Quillian Yates (born Sally Caroline Quillian; August 20, 1960) is an American lawyer. From 2010 to 2015, she was United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. In 2015, she was appointed United States Deputy Attorney General b ...
in 2010
* First (African American) female (
Middle District of Georgia; Acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney): Shanelle Booker in 2022.
District Attorney
* First female: Cheryl Fisher Custer in 1981
* First Latino American (female) elected:
Deborah Gonzalez
Deborah Gonzalez is an American attorney and politician from Georgia.
Gonzalez was elected as a District Attorney for Georgia's Western Circuit district on December 1, 2020, and is a former Democratic member of the Georgia General Assembly. She ...
in 2020
State Bar of Georgia
* First female president (Young Lawyers Division): Donna Barwick from 1988-1989
*First female president (
State Bar of Georgia):
Linda Klein in 1997
* First (African American) female (State Bar of Georgia): Patrise M. Perkins-Hooker in 2014
Firsts in local history
* Heather H. Lanier:
First female appointed as a Judge of the South Georgia Circuit Superior Court
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