List of first women lawyers and judges in Idaho

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Idaho. 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 Idaho's history

Lawyers

First female: Helen Young (1895)
First female prosecutor: Kate E. Nevile Feltham (1914) in 1926
First female to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court: Mazellah (M.) Pearl McCall (1919) in 1924
First female to argue a case before the Supreme Court of Idaho: Adelyne Martha Burrus Champers (1927) in 1929
First Japanese American female: Rei Kihara Osaki (1943)
First Hispanic American female: Joanne P. Rodriguez (1983)
First African American female: Ida Leggett (1986)
First Native American (Cherokee/Shoshone) female: Cassandra Lee Furr Dunn (1974)

Law Clerks

First female to clerk for the Supreme Court of Idaho: Mary Schmitt (1940) in 1941
First female to clerk for the U.S. District Court in Idaho: Ina Mae Wheeler Hanford (1952) in 1952

State judges

First female (non-attorney judge): Margaret Geisler in 1939
First female: Mary Jensen Smith Oldham (1935) in 1945
First female (youngest at time of her appointment): Zoe Ann Warberg Shaub (1960) in 1961
First female (state magistrate): Linda Cook (1973) in 1976
First female (district court): Deborah A. Bail (1975) in 1983
First female (Third Judicial District Court): Juneal Kerrick (1981) in 1987
First female (Idaho Court of Appeals): Cathy Silak (1976) in 1990
First African American (female): Ida Leggett (1986) in 1992
First female (Idaho Supreme Court): Linda Copple Trout (1977) in 1992
First female (Idaho Supreme Court; Chief Justice): Linda Copple Trout (1977) in 1997

Federal judges

First female (federal levelÃ¢ÂÂmagistrate judge; United States District Court for the District of Idaho): Candy Dale in 2008
First female (judge; United States District Court for the District of Idaho): Amanda Brailsford in 2023

Deputy Attorney General

First female (Deputy Assistant): Susan Maria Flandro (1968) in 1968

United States Attorney

First female: Betty H. Richardson (1982) from 1993-2001

Assistant United States Attorney

First female: Mary Hobson in 1978

Prosecuting Attorney

First female: Kate E. Nevile Feltham (1914) in 1926

Idaho State Bar Association

First female president: Kaye O'Riordan in 1988

Firsts in local history

Mary Elizabeth Schmitt (1940): First female lawyer in south-central Idaho (specifically Canyon County, Idaho)
Karen Jean Orndorff Vehlow (1975): First female appointed as a Deputy Prosecutor (1975) and magistrate (1977) in Ada County, Idaho
Jan M. Bennetts: First female Prosecuting Attorney for Ada County, Idaho (2014)
Barbara Buchanan: First female district court judge in Bonner County, Idaho (2013)
Stacey DePew: First female judge in Jerome County, Idaho (2018)
Megan Marshall: First female judge in Latah County, Idaho (2018)
Alberta Morton Phillips (1941): First female to teach law at the University of Idaho [<nowiki/>Latah County, Idaho]
Mary Jensen Smith Oldham (1935): First female lawyer in Rexburg, Idaho [<nowiki/>Madison County, Idaho]
Kate E. Nevile Feltham (1914): First female Prosecuting Attorney for Washington County, Idaho (1926)

References