List of first women lawyers and judges in Delaware

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

Law Degree
  • Helen Balick (1969):[1][2] First female to attend law school without ever attending college. She earned her law degree in 1966.

Lawyers
State
Superior Court
  • Susan C. Del Pesco:[11] First female appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court in Delaware (1988)
  • Haile L. Alford:[9][10] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court in Delaware (1992)
  • Jan R. Jurden:[12] First female to become President of the Delaware Superior Court (2012)
  • Vivian L. Medinilla (née Rapposelli):[1] First Hispanic American (female) to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court in Delaware (2013)
Family Court
  • Roxana Cannon Arsht (1941):[7][8] First female Judge of the Delaware Family Court (1971)
  • Chandlee Johnson Kuhn:[8] First female to serve as the Chief Judge of the Delaware Family Court (2003)
Court of Common Pleas
  • Rosemary Betts Beauregard:[13] First female to serve as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Delaware
Justice of the Peace Court
  • Patricia W. Griffin:[14] First female magistrate appointed to the Justice of the Peace Court in Delaware
Alderman's Court
  • Lisa Roberson Hatfield:[15] First female to serve as the Alderman's Court for Newark (2007)
Court of Chancery
  • Carolyn Berger (1976):[16] First female appointed as a Judge of the Court of Chancery (1984)
Supreme Court
Bankruptcy Court
  • Helen Balick (1969):[1][2] First female to serve as a Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court (1974)
District Court
Court of Appeals

Assistant United States Attorney
  • Peggy L. Ableman:[19] First female to serve as the Assistant United States Attorney for Delaware (1979-1983)

Attorney General

Deputy Attorney General
  • Ruth Farrell:[21] First female appointed as the Deputy Attorney General for Delaware (1962)

Political Office
  • Melanie George Smith:[1] First female (a Delaware lawyer) elected to the House of Representatives (2002)

Bar Association
  • Susan C. Del Pesco:[11] First female to serve as President of the Delaware State Bar Association

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Kent County
  • Frances M. "Mickey" Messina:[22] First female to serve as a Commissioner for the Kent County Levy Court (1972)

New Castle County
  • Marguerite Hopkins Bodziak (1931):[8][3] First female to serve as an Assistant City Solicitor in Wilmington, Delaware (1933) [New Castle County, Delaware]
  • Sara Pennington:[23] First female magistrate in New Castle County, Delaware (1953)
  • Phila Furry George:[24] First female lawyer for the Hercules Powder Company in Wilmington, Delaware (1943) [New Castle County, Delaware]
  • Haile L. Alford:[9][10] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court of New Castle County (1992)
  • Jan R. Jurden:[12] First female to become President of the New Castle County Superior Court, Delaware (2012)

Sussex County

See also

Other topics of interest

References
  1. DeMatteis, Claire M. (2014). "ARTICLE: WOMEN AND THE DELAWARE BAR AND BENCH: IT TAKES GENERATIONS". Del. L. Rev. 14: 125.
  2. Delaware Lawyer: A Publication of Delaware Bar Foundation. The Foundation. 1998.
  3. Paradee, Jacqueline P. (Fall 1993). "Delaware's First Women Lawyers: The Flow of Acceptability" (PDF). Delaware Lawyer, 11:3. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  4. "Black Women in Delaware's History". www1.udel.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  5. "Defying the Stereotype, a Latina Lawyer's Rite of Passage by Nivea Castro - Wendy Angulo Productions". www.wendyanguloproductions.com. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  6. "Bar examination yields 77 new lawyers". The Morning News. 1980-10-24. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  7. "Roxana Cannon Arsht, Delaware's first female judge". Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  8. DeMatteis, Claire M. (2014). "WOMEN AND THE DELAWARE BAR AND BENCH: IT TAKES GENERATIONS" (PDF). Delaware Law Review.
  9. "Investiture of the Honorable Haile L. Alford" (PDF). 1992.
  10. "History: Our Judicial Officers - About Us - Superior Court - Delaware Courts - State of Delaware". courts.delaware.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  11. "History: Our Judicial Officers - About Us - Superior Court - Delaware Courts - State of Delaware". courts.delaware.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
  12. "Jurden becomes first female president of Superior Court". delawareonline. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
  13. "History - Court of Common Pleas - Delaware Courts - State of Delaware". courts.delaware.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
  14. Delaware Lawyer: A Publication of Delaware Bar Foundation. The Foundation. 2000.
  15. Neff, Christine (December 21, 2007). "New Alderman Takes Office" (PDF). Newark Post.
  16. "Del. Supreme Court Justice Berger to retire". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  17. Schmidt, Nick Ciolino, Sophia. "Delaware's first African-American Supreme Court Justice sworn in". www.delawarepublic.org. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  18. Gaza, Anna Shea (September 2017). "Hon. Jane Richards Roth: Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit" (PDF). The Federal Lawyer.
  19. "Ableman, Peggy L. | Professionals | McCarter & English". www.mccarter.com. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  20. "Judge Brady Sworn In, Opens Up". courts.delaware.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  21. "Our History". www.morrisjames.com. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
  22. Dear, Sophie F. (December 2007). "First and only female Levy Court Commissioner passes" (PDF). Kent Connections.
  23. "Sara Pennington, first female Justice of the Peace in New Castle County, 1953-1961". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  24. "Phila Furry George: Obituary". The News Journal. June 29, 1996. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  25. DeMatteis, Claire M. (2014). "WOMEN AND THE DELAWARE BAR AND BENCH: IT TAKES GENERATIONS". Delaware Law Review. 14: 125.
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