This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. 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 obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history

Law Degree

Ada Kepley Ada Harriet Miser Kepley (February 11, 1847 – June 13, 1925) was the first American woman to graduate from law school. She graduated in 1870 with a law degree, from what is today Northwestern University School of Law. At that time, she was pro ...

(1881): First female law graduate in Illinois (1870)

Lawyers

Myra Bradwell Myra Colby Bradwell (February 12, 1831 – February 14, 1894) was an American publisher and political activist. She attempted in 1869 to become the first woman to be admitted to the Illinois bar to practice law, but was denied admission by the ...

(1890 (1869*)): She aimed to be the first woman admitted to the Illinois State Bar. Denied admission in 1870 because she was a woman, she was admitted ''

nunc pro tunc ''Nunc pro tunc'' (English translation: "now for then") is a Latin expression legal term originating in Great Britain, now in common use in other countries. In general, a ruling ''nunc pro tunc'' applies retroactively to correct an earlier ruling ...

'' in 1890, backdated to her 1869 application, in honor of her efforts. * Alta M. Hulett (1873): First female lawyer in Illinois admitted to the bar. (After the ''Bradwell'' case, the state legislature changed the law to allow women to become lawyers) * Ellen A. Martin (1875): First female (a lawyer) to successfully vote in Illinois after finding a loophole in the Lombard town charter in 1891, which was upheld in court. * Mary A. Ahrens (1889): Sole female in the inaugural group of 33 lawyers sworn to the bar of the

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Ill ...

in 1891. *

Ida Platt Ida Platt (September 29, 1863 – 1939) was an American lawyer, based in Chicago. In 1894, she became the first African-American woman licensed to practice law in Illinois, and the third in the United States. Early life Ida Platt was born in Chic ...

(1894): First African-American female lawyer in Illinois *Helen M. Cirese (1921): First Italian American female admitted to the Illinois State Bar *

Elizabeth K. Ohi Kuma Elizabeth Ohi (later K. Elizabeth Owen 1911-1976) was the first Japanese Americans, Japanese American female lawyer in the United States and Illinois. She was born on February 9, 1911, to a Eurasian household in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. He ...

(1937): First Japanese American female lawyer in Illinois

State judges

Catherine Waugh McCulloch Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch (June 4, 1862 – April 20, 1945) was an American lawyer, suffragist, and reformer. She actively lobbied for women's suffrage at the local, state, and national levels as a leader in the Illinois Equal Suffrage As ...

(1886): First female elected as the Justice of the Peace in Illinois (1907) *

Mary Bartelme Mary Margaret Bartelme (July 24, 1866 – July 25, 1954) was a pioneering American judge and lawyer, particularly in the area of juvenile justice. She was the first woman appointed Cook County Public Guardian in Illinois in 1897, and the first w ...

: First elected female judge (1923) and appointed assistant judge (1913) in Illinois *

Edith S. Sampson Edith Spurlock Sampson (October 13, 1901 – October 8, 1979) was an American lawyer and judge, and the first Black U.S. delegate appointed to the United Nations on 24 August 1950. She conceded that Black people did not have equal rights in Amer ...

(1927): First African American female judge in Illinois (1962) *Jane D. Waller (1973): First female to serve on the Nineteenth Circuit in Illinois (1981) * Rita B. Garman (1968): First female to serve as the Presiding Judge for the Fifth Circuit (1987) and the Fourth District Appellate Court (1995) in Illinois *Consuelo Bedoya-Witt (1977): First Hispanic American female judge in Illinois (1988) *Rosemary Collins: First female to serve on the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court in Illinois (1989) * Lynne Kawamoto (1981): First Asian American female (who is Japanese American) judge in Illinois (1991) *

Mary Ann McMorrow Mary Ann McMorrow (née Grohwin; January 16, 1930 – February 23, 2013) was an Illinois Supreme Court chief justice. Career Mary Ann Grohwin was born to Roman and Emily Grohwin and grew up in a Roman Catholic household on the northwest side o ...

(1953): First female to serve on the

Supreme Court of Illinois The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

(1992) and its Chief Justice (2002) * Nancy J. Katz: First openly LGBT female judge in Illinois (upon her appointment to the Cook County Circuit Court in 1999) * Rena M. Van Tine (1986): First Indian American female judge in Illinois (2001) *Pamela Leeming: First known Pakistani American (female) judge in Illinois (2009) *

Laura Liu Laura Cha-Yu Liu (July 19, 1966 – April 15, 2016) was an American circuit court and state appellate court judge. She was the first Chinese American woman judge appointed to the Circuit Court of Cook County and the first Chinese American app ...

(1991): First Asian American female judge in Illinois (2010) and serve on the

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois Circuit Courts. Three Illinois Appellate Court judges hear each case and the concurrence of two is necessary to render a decision. The ...

(2014) * Vershenia Ballance Moody (1995): First (African American) female to serve on the 6B Judicial District in Illinois (2013) *

Lisa Holder White Lisa Holder White (born 1968) is an American lawyer who has served as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court since July 2022. She previously served as a judge of the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court from 2013 to 2022, and as a trial jud ...

(1993): First African American female to serve on the Fourth District Appellate Court (2013) and the

(2022) *Brenda Claudio: First Latino American female to serve as a Judge of the Twenty-First Judicial Circuit in Illinois (2021)

Federal judges

Ann Claire Williams Ann Claire Williams (born August 16, 1949) is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern Di ...

(1975): First African American female to serve on the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois ar ...

(1985) and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1999) *

Nancy J. Rosenstengel Nancy Jo Rosenstengel (née Niemeier; born April 15, 1968) is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and former clerk of court of the same court. Biography Rosenstengel r ...

: First female to serve on the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (in case citations, S.D. Ill.) is a federal district court covering approximately the southern third of the state of Illinois. Appeals from the Southern District of Illinois ...

(2013) *

Staci Michelle Yandle Staci Michelle Yandle (born July 27, 1961) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Biography Yandle received a Bachelor of Science degree in political science in 1983 from th ...

(1987): First openly LGBT and African American female to serve on the

(2014) *

Martha M. Pacold Martha Maria Pacold (born February 3, 1979) is a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Education Pacold was educated at St. Ignatius College Prep in C ...

: First Asian American female to serve on the

(2019) * Rebecca R. Pallmeyer (1979): First female to serve as the Chief United States district judge of the

(2019) * Nancy L. Maldonado: First Hispanic American female to serve as a federal district court judge in Illinois (upon her appointment to the

in 2022)

Attorney General

Lisa Madigan Lisa Murray Madigan (born July 30, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as Attorney General of the U.S. state of Illinois from 2003 to 2019, being the first woman to hold that position. She is t ...

: First female Attorney General of Illinois (2003)

Deputy Attorney General

Jill Wine-Banks Jill Wine-Banks (born May 5, 1943 as Jill Susan Wine

: First female to serve as the Deputy Attorney General for Illinois

Assistant Attorney General

* Jean Williams (1949): First African American female to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Illinois

Solicitor General

Jill Wine-Banks Jill Wine-Banks (born May 5, 1943 as Jill Susan Wine

: First female to serve as the Solicitor General for Illinois

United States Attorney

* Miriam Miquelon: First female to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the

Southern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (in case citations, S.D. Ill.) is a federal district court covering approximately the southern third of the state of Illinois. Appeals from the Southern District of Illinois ...

(c. 2003)

Public Defender

Pearl M. Hart Pearl M. Hart (April 7, 1890 – March 22, 1975) was a Chicago attorney who defended oppressed minority groups. Hart was the first woman in Chicago to be appointed Public Defender in the Morals Court. She represented children, women, immigrants ...

(1914): First female (and LGBT) to serve as a public defender for the Moral Court of Chicago, Illinois (1933)

Bar Association

Carole Bellows Carole Kamin Bellows (born May 24, 1935) is the former president of the Illinois Bar Association. Elected in 1977, Bellows was the first woman to serve as the president of a State Bar association. Bellows later served as a Circuit Court judge in ...

: First female to serve as the President of the Illinois State Bar Association (1977)

Firsts in local history

* Dorothy Wilbourn Spomer: First female elected judge in

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

(1950) *

Rita Garman Rita B. Garman (born November 19, 1943) is a former American judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois. She represented the Fourth Judicial District on the Supreme Court. She was elected by her peers to serve a three-year ter ...

(1968): First female to serve as a circuit judge and as presiding judge for the Fifth Circuit

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

Coles, Cumberland County, Illinois">Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...