List of first women lawyers and judges in Georgia explained
This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Georgia. 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
Lawyers
State judges
Federal judges
Assistant Attorney General of Georgia
- First female: Rubye Jackson[36]
United States Attorney
District Attorney
- First female: Cheryl Fisher Custer in 1981
- First Latino American (female) elected: Deborah Gonzalez in 2020[39]
- First female president (Young Lawyers Division): Donna Barwick from 1988-1989[40]
- 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:[41] First female appointed as a Judge of the South Georgia Circuit Superior Court [<nowiki/>[[Baker County, Georgia|Baker]], Calhoun, Decatur, Grady and Mitchell Counties, Georgia]
- Hulane E. George:[42] First female appointed as a Judge of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit (2006) [<nowiki/>[[Baldwin County, Georgia|Baldwin]], Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Jones, Morgan, Putnam and Wilkinson Counties, Georgia]
- Rosemary Greene:[43] First female District Attorney for the Cherokee Judicial Circuit, Georgia [<nowiki/>[[Bartow County, Georgia|Bartow]] and Gordon Counties, Georgia]
- Denise Fachini:[44] First female appointed as a Judge of the Cordele Judicial Circuit [<nowiki/>[[Ben Hill County, Georgia|Ben Hill]], Crisp, Dooly, and Wilcox Counties, Georgia]
- Nelly Fagalde Withers:[45] First Hispanic American (female) to serve as a Judge of Dekalb County's Recorder's Court (2002)
- Eleonore Raoul: First female to graduate from Emory University’s School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia (1920) [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] and Fulton Counties, Georgia]
- Sarah Irene Brown, Lucine Milan Dalton, Ann Kimsey and Mrs. Holbrook: First females to graduate from John Marshall Law School (1938) [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] and Fulton Counties, Georgia]
- Mary Welcome (1968):[46] First African American female Court Solicitor in Atlanta, Georgia (DeKalb and Fulton Counties, Georgia; 1975)
- Sharon Mackenzie and Diana McDonald: First females to graduate from the Georgia State University College of Law (1984) [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] and Fulton Counties, Georgia]
- Catharina Haynes (1986): First female graduate from Emory University’s School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia to be appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] and Fulton Counties, Georgia]
- Judith Nush:[47] First Latino American female judge in Chamblee, DeKalb County, Georgia
- Chong Kim:[48] First Asian American female to serve as a municipal court judge for Doraville, Georgia (2020) [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] and Fulton Counties, Georgia]
- Vanessa Kosky: First Latino American female to serve as a municipal court judge for Doraville, Georgia (2020) [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] and Fulton Counties, Georgia]
- Sherry Boston:[49] First (African American) female to serve as a municipal court judge for Dunwoody, Georgia [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] and Fulton Counties, Georgia]
- Layla Zon:[50] [51] First female District Attorney and Judge of the Superior Court in the Alcovy Circuit Court, Georgia (2010) [<nowiki/>[[Newton County, Georgia|Newton]] and Walton Counties, Georgia]
- Edith Elizabeth House: First female graduate from the University of Georgia School of Law (1925) [<nowiki/>[[Athens-Clarke County, Georgia|Athens-Clark County, Georgia]]]
- Eva L. Sloan:[52] First female lawyer in Milledgeville, Georgia [<nowiki/>[[Baldwin County, Georgia]]]
- Alene Hardin (c. 1918):[53] First female lawyer in Macon, Georgia [<nowiki/>[[Bibb County, Georgia]]]
- Faye Sanders Martin (1956):[54] First woman to practice law in Bulloch County, Georgia. She would later become the first female Ogeechee Judicial Circuit judge.[55]
- Sarah Estelle ("Stella") Akin (1917):[56] First female lawyer in Savannah, Georgia [<nowiki/>[[Chatham County, Georgia]]]
- Mary V. Clark Creech (1939):[57] First female lawyer in Savannah, Georgia to have a courtroom practice [Chatham County, Georgia]
- Shalena Jones:[58] First African American female elected as the District Attorney of Chatham County, Georgia (2020)
- Shannon Wallace:[59] First female to serve as the District Attorney for Cherokee County, Georgia
- Leah Ward Sears (1980): First African American female (and African American in general) judge in Clayton County, Georgia
- Jewel Scott: First Jamaican American (female) appointed as a Judge of the Clayton County Superior Court (2020). She was also the first (Caribbean-American) female District Attorney for Clayton County.
- Jenny Nguyen: First Asian American female judge in Clayton County, Georgia
- Helen Huff (1939):[60] First female lawyer in Cobb County, Georgia
- Dorothy Robinson: First female to serve as a Judge of the Cobb County Superior Court, Georgia (1972)
- Adele Grubbs (1969):[61] First female to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for Cobb County, Georgia (1977)
- Joyette Holmes:[62] [63] First (African American) female to serve as the District Attorney and a Magistrate Judge for Cobb County, Georgia (2019)
- Cathy Cox (1984):[64] First female lawyer in Bainbridge, Georgia [<nowiki/>[[Decatur County, Georgia]]]
- Linda W. Hunter (1981):[65] First African American female judge of the DeKalb Superior Court and Chief Judge and Administrative Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] County, Georgia]
- Carol W. Hunstein:[66] First female elected as a Judge of the Superior Court bench in DeKalb County, Georgia (1984)
- Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming:[67] First African American female elected as the District Attorney of the Stone Mountain Circuit (2004) [<nowiki/>[[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] County, Georgia]
- Christina Peterson:[68] First African American (female) probate judge in Douglas County, Georgia
- Angela DeLorme (1984):[69] First female lawyer in Fannin County, Georgia
- Kathy Valencia:[70] First female appointed as a Judge of the Fayette County Magistrate Court, Georgia (2010)
- Rhonda Kreuziger: First [African American] female to serve as a Judge of the Griffin Judicial Circuit (2021)
- Jane Kent Plaginos Mitchell (1971):[71] First female lawyer in Forsyth County, Georgia
- Dorothy Beasley (1969): First female judge in Fulton County, Georgia (1977)
- Glenda Hatchett (1977): First African American female to become the Chief Presiding Judge of the Fulton County, Georgia Juvenile Court (1990)
- Tiffany Carter-Sellers:[72] First (African American) female to serve as the municipal court judge for South Fulton, Georgia (2017)
- Fani Willis:[73] First (African American) female to serve as the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia (2020)
- Y. Soo Jo:[74] First Asian American (female) to serve as the County Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia (2021)
- LaVonda Reed:[75] First African American (female) to serve as the Dean of the Georgia State University College of Law (2021)
- Lanelle Rimes Eaves:[76] First female lawyer in Brunswick, Georgia [<nowiki/>[[Glynn County, Georgia]]]
- Ruth Rocker McMullin:[77] First Vietnamese American female judge in Gwinnett County, Georgia
- Ronda Colvin-Leary:[78] First African American female elected as a Judge of the Gwinnett County State Court (2018) [Gwinnett County, Georgia]
- Tiffany Porter:[79] First African American (female) to serve as the Associate Judge of Duluth, Georgia (2019) [<nowiki/>[[Gwinnett County, Georgia]]]
- Tadia Whitner:[80] [81] First African American (female) appointed as a Judge of the Gwinnett County Superior Court (2019)
- Angela D. Duncan:[82] First openly LGBT female to serve as a Judge of the Gwinnett County Superior Court (2020)
- Patsy Austin-Gatson:[83] First African American female elected as the District Attorney of Gwinnett County, Georgia (2020)
- Sandra Pak:[28] First Korean American female judge in Gwinnett County, Georgia (2020)
- Mihae Park:[84] First Asian American female to serve as a Judge of the Gwinnett County Recorder’s Court (2021)
- Pandora Palmer (1994):[85] First female to serve as a Judge of the State Court of Henry County, Georgia (2019)
- Holly Veal: First African American (female) to serve as a Judge in the Flint Judicial Circuit (Superior Court of Henry County; 2018)
- Danielle P. Roberts:[86] First African-American (female) to serve as a Judge of the State Court of Henry County, Georgia (2020)
- Aretha Miller:[87] [88] First female lawyer in Laurens County, Georgia
- Annie Anderson: First female judge in Laurens County, Georgia (1922)
- Kathryn Pierce: First female to graduate from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law in Macon-Bibb County, Georgia (1919)
- Verda Colvin:[89] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Macon Judicial Circuit
- Anita Reynolds Howard:[90] First African American (female) to serve as the District Attorney in the Macon Judicial District (2021)
- Nancy Calhoun (1985):[91] First female lawyer in Murray County, Georgia
- Maureen Wood:[92] First African American (female) to serve as a Judge of the Rockland Juvenile Court (2016)
See also
Other topics of interest
Notes and References
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