List of first women lawyers and judges in Louisiana

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Louisiana. 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
Shelly Deckert Dick: First female Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana (2013)
Nannette Jolivette Brown: First African American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (2011)

Lawyers
Judges
  • Anna Judge Veters Levy (c. 1922):[7][8] First female judge in Louisiana (1941)
  • Alwine Louise Smith Ragland (1935):[9] First female elected judge (1974)[10]
  • Joan Armstrong (1967):[11][12] First African American female judge in Louisiana (1974)
District Court
  • Catherine D. Kimball (1970):[13] First female elected as a Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial District Court in Louisiana (1983)
  • Rae Swent:[14] First female appointed as a Judge of the Ninth Judicial District in Louisiana
  • Ann B. McIntyre (1977):[15][16] First female appointed as a Judge of the Fifth Judicial District in Louisiana
  • Patricia Minaldi (1983):[17] First female elected as the Judge for the Fourteenth Judicial District Court in Louisiana (1995)
  • Patricia Hedges:[18] First female appointed as a Judge of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court in Louisiana (1995)
  • Lori Landry:[19] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District in Louisiana (2002)
  • Jane Margaret Triche-Milazzo:[20] First female appointed as a Judge of the Twenty-Third Judicial District in Louisiana (2008)
  • Monique F. Rauls (1993):[21] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the Ninth District Court in Louisiana (2015)
  • Amy Burford-McCartney:[22] First female judge elected in the Forty-Second Judicial District in Louisiana (2016)
Circuit Court
  • Felicia Toney Williams:[23] First female (and African American female) elected to the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal (1992) and serve as its Chief Judge (2018)
Appellate Court
  • Joan Armstrong (1967):[11][12] First female (and African American female) to serve as a Judge of the Louisiana Court of Appeals (1984)
Supreme Court
District Court

Assistant Attorney General

United States Attorney
  • Stephanie A. Finley:[30] First female to serve as a U.S. Attorney in Louisiana (2010)

District Attorneys
  • Keva Landrum-Johnson:[31][32][33][34] First female (and African American female) to serve as a District Attorney in Louisiana (2007)
  • Bridget A. Dinvaut:[33][35][36] First African American female elected as a District Attorney in Louisiana (2015)

Assistant District Attorney
  • Lori Landry:[19] First African American female to serve as an Assistant District Attorney for the Sixteenth Judicial District in Louisiana (c. 1993)

Bar Association
  • Marta-Ann Schnabel:[37] First female to serve as the President of the Louisiana State Bar Association
  • Kim M. Boyle:[38] First African American female to serve as the President of the Louisiana State Bar Association (2009-2010)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by parish name

Ascension Parish

Assumption Parish

Bossier Parish

Caddo Parish

DeSoto Parish

East Carroll Parish

Franklin Parish

Iberville Parish

Jefferson Parish
  • Jo Ellen Grant and Martha E. Sassone:[40] First female judges respectively in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
  • June Berry Darensburg:[41][42] First African American female elected to a judgeship in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana (2006)

Lafayette Parish

Lafourche Parish

Madison Parish

Orleans Parish
  • Bernette Joshua Johnson (1969):[24][25] First female (and African American female) to serve as a Judge of the Orleans Parish Civil District Court (1984) and its Chief Judge (1994)
  • Angelique Reed:[46] First African American (female) to serve as a Judge of New Orleans' First City Civil District Court (1998) and its Senior Judge
  • Miriam Waltzer:[47] First female judge to be elected to Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Louisiana
  • Kim M. Boyle:[38] First African American female (and African American overall) to serve as the President of the New Orleans Bar Association (2003)
  • Keva Landrum-Johnson:[31][32][33][34] First female District Attorney for the Orleans Parish, Louisiana (2007)

Pointe Coupee Parish

Rapides Parish
  • Monique F. Rauls (1993):[21][48] First African American female judge in Rapides Parish, Louisiana
  • Rae Swent:[14] First female appointed as a Judge of the Ninth Judicial District in Louisiana [Rapides Parish, Louisiana]

Richland Parish

St. Bernard Parish

St. James Parish

St. John the Baptist Parish

St. Tammany Parish

Tensas Parish

Terrebonne Parish

Washington Parish

West Baton Rouge Parish

West Carroll Parish

See also

Other topics of interest

References
  1. Norgren, Jill (2016-05-01). Rebels at the Bar: The Fascinating, Forgotten Stories of America's First Women Lawyers. NYU Press. ISBN 9781479835522.
  2. Advocate, Kimberley Singletary Special to The. "State's first female lawyer turns 100, will speak at Tulane". The Advocate. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  3. "Oldest lawyer in LA., Marian Berkett, succumbs at 104 « Crescent City Jewish News". www.crescentcityjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  4. "Tulane University Law School - News Item Detail". www.law.tulane.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  5. She was the oldest attorney in Louisiana at the time of her death in 2017.
  6. Ph.D, Rachel L. Emanuel, Ph D., Ruby Jean Simms, Ph D., Charles Vincent (2015-06-01). Scotlandville. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781467113144.
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  10. Upon Alwine Ragland becoming a Judge of the Sixth Judicial District in Louisiana
  11. "Chief judge of 4th Circuit to retire in 2011 after 37 years on the bench". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
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  14. "District News" (PDF). National Association of Women Judges - COUNTERBALANCE. 2009.
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  19. Farzan, Antonia Noori (2019-10-31). "A judge spoke out about racial bias. Now prosecutors are trying to get her removed from hundreds of cases". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  20. Tilove, Jonathan. "Jane Triche-Milazzo secures Senate's confirmation for federal judgeship". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
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  42. "Little Known Black History Fact: Judge June Berry Darensburg". Black America Web. 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  43. "2017 Hall of Fame Honorees". www.lafayettebar.org. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
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