List of first women lawyers and judges in Oregon

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

Lawyers

First female: Mary Leonard (1885)
First African American female: Mercedes Deiz (1960)

Law Clerk

First female to clerk for a federal judge in Oregon: Helen F. Althaus (1945) from 1947-1949

State judges

First female (temporary): Ethel Graham in 1914
First female: Mary Jane Spurlin (1924)
First female (circuit court): Jean Lagerquist Lewis (1938) in 1961
First African American female: Mercedes Deiz (1960) in 1969
First female (Oregon Court of Appeals): Betty Roberts (1966) in 1977
First female (Supreme Court of Oregon): Betty Roberts (1966) in 1982
First openly lesbian female: Janice Wilson in 1991
First females (tax court): Jill A. Tanner and Coyreen Weidner in 1997
First female (Chief Judge; Oregon Court of Appeals): Mary Deits in 1997
First Hispanic American female (Oregon Court of Appeals): Darleen Ortega (1989) in 2003
First African American (female) (appellate court): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2006
First Asian American female: Youlee Yim You in 2007
First openly lesbian female (Supreme Court of Oregon): Virginia Linder (1980) in 2007
First openly lesbian and Asian American (female) (Oregon Court of Appeals): Lynn Nakamoto (1985) in 2011
First openly lesbian and Asian American (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Lynn Nakamoto (1985) in 2015
First African American (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2018
First female (Chief Justice; Supreme Court of Oregon): Martha Lee Walters in 2018
First Laotian American (female): Chanpone Sinlapasai in 2022
First South Asian (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Aruna Masih in 2023
First Arab American (female) and first Muslim American (female) (Multnomah County Circuit Court): Rima Ghandour in 2023.

Federal judges

First female (U.S. District Court of Oregon): Helen Frye (1966) in 1980
First female (U.S. Bankruptcy Court): Polly Higden in 1983
First female (magistrate; United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Janice Stewart in 1993
First female (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Susan P. Graber (1972) in 1998
First female (Chief Judge; United States District Court Judge for the District of Oregon): Ann Aiken (1979) in 2009
First Asian American (female) (magistrate; United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Youlee Yim You in 2016
First Asian AmericanÃÂ (female) (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Jennifer Sung in 2021
First African American female (United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2023

Attorney General

First [Jewish] female: Ellen Rosenblum (1975) in 2012

Assistant Attorney General

First (African American) female (Department of Justice): Armonica Gilford (1981) in 1989

Solicitor General

First openly lesbian female: Virginia Linder (1980) from 1986-1997

United States Attorney

First female (law clerk): Susan P. Graber (1972)

Political Office

First openly bisexual female (governor): Kate Brown (1985) in 2015

Oregon State Bar Association

First female president: Julie Frantz in 1992
First Asian American (female) president: Liani J. Reeves in 2020

Firsts in local history

Barb Haslinger and Alta Brady: First female judges respectively in Central Oregon (1990 and 1994)
Paula Bechtold (1975): First female judge in Coos County, Oregon
Jody Newby: First female District Attorney for Coos County, Oregon (2025)
Diana Wales (1977): First female lawyer in private practice in Roseburg, Oregon [<nowiki/>Douglas County, Oregon]
Jeannette Thatcher Marshall (1946): First female lawyer in Medford, Oregon [<nowiki/>Jackson County, Oregon]
Beth Heckert: First female District Attorney for Jackson County, Oregon (c. 2013)
Valerie Love: First Asian American female to become a Judge of the Lane County Circuit Court, Oregon (2007)
Clara Rigmaiden: First Hispanic American female to become a Judge of the Lane County Circuit Court, Oregon (2007)
Patty Perlow: First female District Attorney for Lane County, Oregon (2015)
Jolie Russo (1988): First female magistrate in Eugene, Oregon (2016) [<nowiki/>Lane County, Oregon]
Sharon Cox Stevens (1978): First female lawyer in Linn County, Oregon
Hattie Bratzel Kremen: First female District Attorney for Marion County, Oregon (1956-1964)
Jean Lagerquist Lewis (1938): First female judge in Multnomah County, Oregon (1954)
Beatrice Morrow Cannady (Law Degree, 1922): First African American female lawyer to appear in Portland, Oregon [Multnomah County, Oregon]
Youlee You: First Asian American female to become a Judge of the Multnomah County Superior Court, Oregon (2007)
Rima Ghandour: First Arab American female and first Muslim American to serve as a judge in Multnomah County, Oregon
Nancy W. Campbell: First female judge in Washington County, Oregon
Carol E. Jones: First female judge appointed to the Yamhill County Circuit Court [<nowiki/>Yamhill County, Oregon]

References