Elizabeth Bermingham Lacy (born January 12, 1945) is a Virginia jurist. She was the first woman named to the

Virginia State Corporation Commission The State Corporation Commission, or SCC, is a Virginia (USA) regulatory agency whose authority encompasses utilities, insurance, state-chartered financial institutions, securities, retail franchising, and railroads. It is the state's central filin ...

and later was the first woman named to be a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, where she served until her retirement in 2007.

Early and family life

Lacy graduated from St. Mary's College at Notre Dame in 1966 and taught elementary school in Texas for a year. She studied law at the

University of Texas Law School The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

and graduated in 1969. She also received an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1992.

Career

Lacy practiced law in Texas before moving to Virginia, serving for three years with the Texas Legislative Council, and then for three years with the Texas Attorney General's office, specializing in antitrust and consumer protection law. From 1976 to 1977, Lacy moved to Virginia and served as legislative aide to state delegate

Carrington Williams Carrington and Carington are surnames originating from one of the Carringtons in England, or from the town of Carentan in Normandy, France. It is also rarely a given name. Surname Scientists *Alan Carrington (1934–2013), British chemist * Benja ...

. She then began working for the Virginia Office of Attorney General, under Gerald L. Baliles. She rose to become the state Deputy Attorney General for Judicial Affairs (a division that prosecutes consumer protection violations, oversees the state's antitrust laws, state regulations and conflict of interest statutes). Governor Charles S. Robb appointed her to the State Corporation Commission, which had judicial as well as responsibilities. She was the first woman on the SCC. After Gerald L. Baliles was elected Governor of Virginia, he appointed Lacy to the Virginia Supreme Court as discussed below. Delegate Theodore V. Morrison Jr., a lawyer from Newport News, Virginia and part-time member of the General Assembly, was nominated and confirmed to succeed her on the SCC. On November 22, 1988, Gov. Baliles appointed Lacy to the Virginia Supreme Court, and the General Assembly confirmed her appointment in due course. She was again the first woman to hold the position, and she was subsequently elected to a full 12-year term. Although by seniority she was the longest serving active member of the Supreme Court when Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico retired, Lacy did not succeed him as chief justice. Although the chief justice was previously the senior active member of the Court, a change in the law before Chief Justice Carrico's retirement provided that in future the chief justice would be selected by an election of the Court members for a four-year term. Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr., then second in seniority to Justice Lacy, was elected chief justice, and was the first African American to hold that position. Justice Lacy retired and took senior status effective August 16, 2007. On December 31, 2019, Justice Lacy stepped down as a senior justice after more than 30 years' service to the Court. The

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...

honored her as one of the eight

Virginia Women in History Virginia Women in History was an annual program sponsored by the Library of Virginia that honored Virginia women, living and dead, for their contributions to their community, region, state, and nation. The program began in 2000 under the aegis of th ...

for 2008.

References

External links

Virginia Women in History biography at Library of VirginiaAmerican Bar Association oral history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacy, Elizabeth 1945 births Living people People from Parris Island, South Carolina Saint Mary's College (Indiana) alumni University of Texas School of Law alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Virginia lawyers Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges

Early and family life

Career

See also

References

External links