List of first women lawyers and judges in Virginia

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Virginia. 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 in 1879
First females licensed: Rebecca Pearl Lovenstein and Carrie M. Gregory (1920)
First female to practice before the Virginia Supreme Court: 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 (Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court): Odessa Pittard Bailey in 1944
First female (county court): Anna Fancher Hedrick (1930) in 1951
First female (Virginia Supreme Court): 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 (Virginia Supreme Court): Cleo Powell (1982) in 2011
First female (Chief Justice; Virginia Supreme Court): Cynthia D. Kinser 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): 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): Elizabeth K. Dillon (1986) in 2014
First Asian American (female) (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia): Jasmine H. Yoon in 2024
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 (1991)

Attorney General of Virginia

First female: Mary Sue Terry (1973) from 1986-1993

Deputy Attorney General

First female: Elizabeth B. Lacy in 1982

United States Attorney

First female: Elsie Munsell in 1981

Commonwealth's Attorney

First African American female: Gammiel Poindexter in 1975

Virginia Bar Association

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 Circuit Court (2023)
Elaine Jones: First African American female to attend and graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law (1970)
Reece Hale Robertson: First female circuit judge in Buchanan County, Virginia (2024)
Gammiel Poindexter: First African American (female) judge in the Sixth Judicial District (Brunswick County, et al.; 1995)
Tania M.L. Saylor: First female of color to serve as a Judge of the Fairfax County Circuity Court (2022)
Lee Lovett (1947): First female lawyer in Winchester, Virginia, Frederick County, Virginia
Helivi Holland: First African American female to serve as a General District judge in the 5th Judicial District. In 2024, she became the first (African American) female to serve on the 5th Judicial Circuit Court. S<nowiki/>he was also the first African American (female) to serve as the Suffolk City Attorney. [<nowiki/>Isle of Wight, Southampton and Suffolk Counties, Virginia]
Buta Biberaj: First (Albanian American, Muslim, and immigrant) female to serve as the CommonwealthÃ¢ÂÂs Attorney for Loudoun County, Virginia (2019)
Lorrie A. Sinclair Taylor: First African American (female) judge in Loudoun County, Virginia (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 (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