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

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. 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 state history

Law school

* First female law graduates: Elizabeth N. Tompkins and Jane Brown Ranson in 1923

Lawyers

*First female to practice before state's federal court:

Belva Ann Lockwood Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830 – May 19, 1917) was an American lawyer, politician, educator, and author who was active in the women's rights and women's suffrage movements. She was one of the first women lawyers in the United Sta ...

in 1879 *First females licensed: Rebecca Pearl Lovenstein and Carrie M. Gregory (1920) *First female to practice before the

Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...

: Mildred Callahan in 1923 *First African American female: Lavinia Marian Fleming Poe (1925) *First African American female (full-time government attorney): Alda White *First African American female (major law firm partner): Jacquelyn Stone in 1994

State judges

*First female: Mary Kerr Moorehead Harris in 1922 *First female (county court): Anna Fancher Hedrick (1930) in 1951 *First female (

): Elizabeth B. Lacy in 1989 * First African American female: Angela Roberts in 1990 * First African American female (First Judicial Circuit): Eileen A. Olds (1982) in 1995 * First female (Twenty-Fifth Judicial District): Virginia Anita Filson in 2001 * First Hispanic American (female): Uley Norris Damiani in 2009 *First African American female (

Cleo Powell Cleo Elaine Powell (born January 12, 1957) is a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. She was sworn in on October 21, 2011 for a term ending on July 31, 2023. Justice Powell is the first African-American female to serve on Virginia's highest ...

(1982) in 2011 *First female (Chief Justice;

Cynthia D. Kinser Cynthia Dinah Kinser (born December 20, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Kinser was elected by the Virginia General Assembly to her first 12-year term to the Virginia Supreme Court in 1 ...

in 2011 *First Asian American female: Maha-Rebekah Abejuela in 2019

Federal judges

* First African American female (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Allyson Kay Duncan (1975) in 2003 * First African American female (

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton ...

): Arenda Wright Allen (1985) in 2011 * Firs female chief judge ( U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia)
Rebecca B. Connelly
(1963) in 2012 *First female (

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia (in case citations, W.D. Va.) is a United States district court. Appeals from the Western District of Virginia are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth ...

): Elizabeth K. Dillon (1986) in 2014 *First African American (female) (U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia): Klinette H. Kindred (1970) in 2017 * First female (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit):

Barbara Milano Keenan Barbara Louise Milano Keenan (born March 1, 1950) is a senior United States circuit judge of United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a former justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia. Early life and education Keenan was bor ...

(1991)

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ...

*First female:

Mary Sue Terry Mary Sue Terry (born September 28, 1947) is an American Democratic politician from Virginia. Early life Terry was born the daughter of Nathaniel Chatham Terry and Nannie Ruth Terry in Martinsville, Virginia. She was an active and enthusiastic ...

(1973) from 1986-1993

Deputy Attorney General

* First female: Elizabeth B. Lacy in 1982

Virginia Bar Association The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) is a voluntary organization of lawyers, judges and law school faculty and students in Virginia, with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Key elements are advocacy, professionalism, service and collegiality. It provi ...

* First female (presidents): Anita Poston and Jeanne Franklin respectively from 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 *First African American (female): Doris Henderson Causey in 2017 *First Latino American female: Stephanie E. Grana in 2022

Firsts in local history

* Eleanor Dobson (1974): First female judge in Arlington County, Virginia (1982) * Judith Wheat: First female to serve as the Chief Judge of the

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

Circuit Court (2023) * Elaine Jones: First African American female to attend and graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law (1970) * Tania M.L. Saylor: First female of color to serve as a Judge of the

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and ...

Circuity Court (2022) * Lee Lovett (1947): First female lawyer in Winchester, Virginia,

Frederick County, Virginia Frederick County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,419. Its county seat is Winchester. The county was formed in 1743 by the splitting of Orange County. It is Virginia's northernmost county ...

* Lorrie A. Sinclair Taylor: First African American (female) judge in

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun ...

(2020) * Stephanie Morales: First female elected as the Commonwealth's Attorney for Portsmouth, Virginia (2015) * Janice Wellington: First female (and African American) judge in

Prince William County, Virginia Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manass ...

(1990) * Phoebe Hall: First female to serve as the Public Defender for Richmond, Virginia * Rachel Figura: First female judge for the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia (2019) * Kimberly M. Jenkins: First female judge for the 30th Judicial Circuit Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, from Scott County, Virginia (2019) * Alda White: First female (and African American female) to serve as the County Attorney for Stafford County, Virginia * Suzanne Kuzco Fulton: First female to serve as General District Court Judge for Wise County and the 30th Judicial Circuit (1989-2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:First women lawyers and judges in Virginia Lawyers, Virginia, first Virginia, first Women, Virginia, first Women, Virginia, first Women in Virginia Virginia lawyers Lists of people from Virginia Lists of first women lawyers and judges