List of first women lawyers and judges in Connecticut

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Connecticut. 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 obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history
Mary Hall: First female lawyer in Connecticut (1882)
Deirdre M. Daly: First female U.S. Attorney in Connecticut (2014)

Lawyers
Justice of the Peace
  • Alice J. O'Neill:[4][5] First female Justice of the Peace in Connecticut (c. 1920s)
Judges
  • JoAnne Kulawiz:[6][7] First female appointed to the trial bench in Connecticut (1972)
  • Ellen Bree Burns (1947):[8] First female appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court in Connecticut (1976)
  • Maria Araujo Kahn (1989):[9] First female of Portuguese descent to serve as a judge in Connecticut (2006)
  • Nina F. Elgo (1990):[10] First Asian American (female) judge in Connecticut (2004)
  • E. Curtissa R. Cofield:[11] First African American female judge in Connecticut (1991)
  • Carmen E. Espinosa:[12][13] First Hispanic American (female) judge in Connecticut (1992)
Circuit Court
  • JoAnne Kulawiz:[6][7] First female appointed as a Judge of the Connecticut Circuit Court (1972)
Appellate Court
  • Antoinette Dupont:[7] First female to serve as a Judge of the Colorado Court of Appeals (1983-1999) and serve as its Chief Judge (1984-1997)
  • Carmen E. Espinosa:[12][13] First Hispanic American female appointed as a Judge of the Connecticut Court of Appeals (2011)
  • Nina F. Elgo (1990):[10] First Asian American female appointed as a Judge of the Connecticut Court of Appeals (2018)
Supreme Court
District Court
  • Ellen Bree Burns (1947):[8] First female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut (1978) and its Chief Judge (1988)
Appellate Court
  • Susan L. Carney (1977):[15] First female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. Magistrate Judge
  • Joan G. Margolis:[16] First female appointed as the U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Connecticut (1985)

State Attorney General

Assistant State's Attorney
  • Anne C. Dranginis (1972):[18][19] First female to serve as the Assistant State's Attorney of Connecticut (1977)

United States Attorney
  • Nora Dannehy:[20] First female to serve as the Acting U.S. Attorney for Connecticut (2008-2010)
  • Deidre M. Daly:[21] First female to serve as the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut (2014)

Public Defender
  • Ellen B. Lubell:[22][23] First female to serve as a Public Defender in Connecticut (c. 1977)

Bar Association
  • Marilyn Seichter:[24] First female to serve as the President of the Connecticut Bar Association (1989-1990)
  • Alice A. Bruno:[25] First female lawyer to become the Executive Director of the Connecticut Bar Association (2012)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Fairfield County
  • Vivien Hall Root:[26] First female lawyer in Fairfield County, Connecticut (c. 1905)
  • Dianne Andersen (c. 1950s):[27] First female lawyer in Danbury, Connecticut [Fairfield County, Connecticut]
  • Dianne Yamen:[28] First female probate judge in Danbury, Connecticut (1990) [Fairfield County, Connecticut]

Hartford County
  • Mary Hall (1882):[1][2] First female lawyer in Hartford County, Connecticut
  • Catherine Kligerman:[29] First female to serve as the President of the Hartford County Bar Association, Connecticut (1990)

New Haven County

See also

Other topics of interest

References
  1. "Mary Hall, the First Woman Admitted to Practice Law in Connecticut | Connecticut State Library". ctstatelibrary.org. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  2. "Mary Hall, the First Woman Admitted to Practice Law in Connecticut – Connecticut State Library". ctstatelibrary.org. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
  3. Normen, Elizabeth J. (2014-01-27). African American Connecticut Explored. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819574008.
  4. Independent Woman. National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. 1921.
  5. Clarke, Ida Clyde Gallagher (1924). Women of Today. Women of Today Press.
  6. Courant, Hartford. "JOANNE KULAWIZ; ONE OF FIRST FEMALE JUDGES". courant.com. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  7. "Selected Highlights of Women's History United States & Connecticut 1773 to 2015" (PDF). The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. March 2015.
  8. "Nearing retirement, state's first female judge looks back". NewsTimes. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  9. "The Honorable Maria A. Kahn Receives 2017 Ladder Award" (PDF). Connecticut Bar Association. Summer 2017.
  10. June 28, Robert Storace |; PM, 2018 at 05:22. "A Woman of Many 'Firsts': Nina Elgo Takes On New Role as Connecticut Appellate Court Judge". Connecticut Law Tribune. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  11. "Connecticut's first female African-American judge suspended for late decisions". New Pittsburgh Courier. 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  12. "Justice Carmen E. Espinosa - Biography". www.jud.ct.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  13. Hawkins, Carol Hooks (2008-11-18). American Women Leaders: 1,560 Current Biographies. McFarland. ISBN 9780786452750.
  14. "Ellen Ash Peters (LL.B. 1954) | Yale Law Women". yalelawwomen.org. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
  15. "Senate Confirms Susan Carney - NWLC". NWLC. 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  16. "New Haven U.S. Magistrate Judge To Retire". New Haven, CT Patch. 2018-04-26. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
  17. "The Biographies of the Attorneys General of Connecticut". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  18. American, Republican. "Dranginis recalls her days in Litchfield court | Archives". Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  19. "Anne Dranginis". www.evergreeneditions.com. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  20. Storace, Robert. "Former US Attorney Nora Dannehy Returns to Office to Serve as Counsel". outline.com. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  21. "Fairfielder Deirdre Daly sworn in as first woman to be U.S. attorney in state". Fairfield Citizen. 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  22. Illson, Murray (1977-08-14). "A Pioneer Public Defender". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  23. Courant, ANNE M. HAMILTON, Special to The. "Tony DeMayo: A Champion For Those Who Needed One". courant.com. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  24. NEYER, CONSTANCE. "MARILYN SEICHTER DIES; 1ST WOMAN TO HEAD STATE'S BAR". courant.com. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
  25. GRIFFIN, ALAINE. "First Woman Named To Head State Bar Association". courant.com. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
  26. Connecticut Bar Journal. Connecticut Bar Association. 1975.
  27. "Prominent Danbury lawyer Dianne Andersen remembered". NewsTimes. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  28. Perrefort, Dirk; Writer, Staff (2011-01-04). "Danbury Probate Judge Dianne Yamin sworn in Monday by Gov. Rell". NewsTimes. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  29. "Hartford County Bar Association: Presidents" (PDF). Hartford County Bar Association.
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