List of first women lawyers and judges in Florida

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Florida. 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
Susan H. Black: First female county (1973), circuit (1975) and federal court (1979) judge in Florida
Rosemary Barkett: First female Justice (1985) and Chief Justice (1992) of the Florida Supreme Court
Barbara Lagoa: First Hispanic American female Justice of the Florida Supreme Court (2019)

Lawyers
  • Louise R. Pinnell (1898):[1] First female lawyer in Florida
  • Marian Borros (1926):[1] First Hispanic American female lawyer in Florida
  • Bernice Gaines (1958):[2][3][4] First African American female lawyer in Florida
  • Haley Moss (2019):[5][6] First female lawyer openly with autism in Florida
Judges
  • Bessie Bellinger:[7][8] First female to act in a judicial capacity in Florida (1922)
  • Edith Atkinson:[9] First female judge in Florida (1924)[10]
  • Leah Simms (1974):[11][12] First African American female judge in Florida (1981)[13]
  • Margarita Esquiroz (1974):[14][15] First Cuban American female appointed as a judge in Florida (1984)[16]
County Court
Circuit Court
  • Susan H. Black:[17] First female circuit court judge in Florida (1975)
  • Maria Korvick:[18] First Hispanic American female to serve as a Circuit Court Judge in Florida (1981)
  • Melvia Green:[19] First African American female to serve as a circuit judge in Florida (1989)
  • Marva L. Crenshaw:[19] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court in Florida (2000)
  • Sandra Edwards-Stephens:[19] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Fifth Circuit Court in Florida (2000)
  • Joyce H. Williams:[19] First African American (female) to serve as a Judge of the First Judicial Circuit in Florida (2005)
  • Barbara Hobbs:[20] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Florida (2012)
  • Bertila Soto (1986):[21] First Cuban American female appointed as a Chief Circuit Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida (2013)
  • Maria Ruhl:[22] First Hispanic American female (and Hispanic American in general) appointed as a Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of Florida (2019)
  • Kimberly C. Bonner:[23] First female to serve as the Chief Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court in Florida (2019)
Appellate Court
  • Rhea Grossman:[18] First female to serve temporarily as a Judge of the District Court of Appeal (1971)
  • Anne C. Booth:[24] First female appellate court judge in Florida (1978)[25]
  • Peggy Quince (1975):[12][26] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the Florida Second District Court of Appeal (1993)
  • Carole Y. Taylor (1974):[27][28] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal (1998)
  • Virginia M. Hernandez Covington (1980):[29] First Cuban American female appointed as a Judge of the Florida Second District Court of Appeal (2001)
  • Bobby W. Gunther:[27] First female appointed as a Judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Florida (1986)[30]
  • Barbara Lagoa (1992):[31] First Hispanic American (Cuban American) female appointed as a Judge of the Third District Court of Appeals in Florida (2006)
  • Nikki Clark:[32] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the First District Court of Appeals in Florida (2009)
Supreme Court
Administrative Law
  • Eleanor Hunter:[20] First African American (female) to serve as an Administrative Law Judge in Florida
District Court

Attorney General
  • Pam Bondi (1990):[36] First female to serve as the Attorney General of Florida (2010)

Assistant Attorney General
  • Rebecca Bowles Hawkins (1935):[37] First female Assistant Attorney General of Florida (1948)

State Attorney
  • Janet Reno (1963):[38] First female to serve as a State Attorney in Florida (1978)
  • Aramis Ayala:[39][40] First African American female (and African American in general) to become a State Attorney in Florida (2016)

Assistant State Attorney
  • Susan H. Black:[17] First female to serve as an Assistant State Attorney in Florida (1969)

County Attorney
  • Annie Joe Law:[41][42] First female to serve as a County Attorney in Florida (1928)

Public Defender
  • Barbara Linthicum (1989-1990) - preceded Nancy Daniels:[43][44] First female to serve as a Public Defender in Florida (1990)

Bar Association
  • Patricia A. Seitz:[45] First female to serve as President of the Florida State Bar Association (1993-1994)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Region

Alachua County

Baker County

Bradford County

Brevard County

Broward County
  • Angeline Weir (1960):[27] First female County Solicitor in Broward County, Florida
  • Mildred S. Akerman (1956):[27] First female elected judge in Broward County, Florida (1959)
  • Elizabeth Athanasakos (1957):[27] First female municipal judge in Broward County, Florida (1964–1974)
  • Barbara Bridge (1964):[27] First female judge of the County Court in Broward County, Florida (1972)
  • Mary Rudd-Robinson:[52] First African American female judge in Broward County, Florida (1993)
  • Cynthia Everett:[53] First female (and African American) to serve as the City Attorney for Fort Lauderdale, Florida [Broward County, Florida]

Clay County
  • Pauline Drake:[54] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court (1998)[55] [Clay, Duval and Nassau Counties, Florida]
  • Kristina Mobley:[56] First female county judge in Clay County, Florida (c. 2015)

Collier County

DeSoto County

Duval County

Escambia County

Gadsden County

Gilchrist County

Hernando County

Hillsborough County
  • Mae Wood (c. 1896):[60] First female lawyer in Hillsborough County, Florida
  • Arthenia Joyner (1969):[61] First African American female lawyer in Hillsborough County, Florida
  • Josephine Howard Stafford:[18][62] First female to serve as a Judge of the Municipal Court of Tampa, Florida (1958) [Hillsborough County, Florida]
  • Carolyn House Stewart:[63] First African American female to serve as the Assistant State Attorney of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (1980) [Hillsborough County, Florida]
  • Susan C. Bucklew:[64][65] First female appointed as a Judge of the Hillsborough County Superior Court (1982) and circuit court judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Florida (1986)
  • Julianne Holt:[63] First female Public Defender of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit [Hillsborough County, Florida]

Indian River County
  • Nicole Menz:[66] First female judge in Indian River County, Florida (2018)

Leon County

Levy County

Manatee County

Miami-Dade County
  • Edith Atkinson:[9] First female judge in Dade County, Florida (1924)
  • Gwen Cherry (1965):[68] First African American female lawyer in Dade County, Florida
  • Mattie Belle Davis:[9][69] First female to serve as a Judge of the Metropolitan Court of Dade County (1959), Florida
  • Janet Reno (1963):[38] First female to serve as a State's Attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida (1978)
  • Kathy Fernandez Rundle:[70] First Cuban American (female) to serve as a State Attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida (1993)
  • Dixie L. Herlong Chastain:[9] First female appointed as a judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in Dade County, Florida. She was also the sixth female judge in Florida.
  • Abigail Price Williams (1985):[71] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Miami-Dade County, Florida (2015)

Nassau County

Okeechobee County

Orange County

Osceola County

Palm Beach County
  • Anne E'del Deacon:[9] First female municipal judge in Palm Beach, Florida and fifth female judge in Florida [Palm Beach County, Florida]
  • Catherine Brunson:[76] First African American female lawyer to work for the Palm Beach County Attorney’s Office (1977), set up a law practice (1984), and serve as a Judge of the Circuit Court in Palm Beach County (1994)
  • Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes:[77] First African American female to serve as President of the Palm County Bar Association, Florida (2017)
  • Meenu Sasser:[78] First Asian American (female) judge in Palm Beach County, Florida

Pinellas County
  • C. Bette Wimbish (1968):[79] First African American female lawyer in Pinellas County, Florida
  • Catherine Harlan:[80] First female county judge in Pinellas County, Florida

Polk County

Putnam County

Sarasota County

St. Lucie County
  • Elsie O'Laughlin (1948):[81] First female lawyer and judge in St. Lucie County, Florida
  • Pamela Fort:[82] First African American female lawyer in Fort Pierce, Florida [St. Lucie County, Florida]

Union County

See also

Other topics of interest

References
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