List of first women lawyers and judges in Oregon

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

 

Mary Jane Spurlin: First female judge in Oregon

 

Betty Roberts: First female Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1982)

Lawyers

• First female: Mary Leonard (1885)^[1]
• First African American female: Mercedes Deiz (1960)^[2]

Law Clerk

• First female to clerk for a federal judge in Oregon: Helen F. Althaus (1945) from 1947-1949^[3][4]

State judges

• First female (temporary): Ethel Graham in 1914^[5]
• First female: Mary Jane Spurlin (1924)^[6]
• First female (circuit court): Jean Lagerquist Lewis (1938) in 1961^[7][8][9]
• First African American female: Mercedes Deiz (1960) in 1969^[2]
• First female (Oregon Court of Appeals): Betty Roberts (1966) in 1977^[10]
• First female (Supreme Court of Oregon): Betty Roberts (1966) in 1982^[10]
• First openly lesbian female: Janice Wilson in 1991^[11][12]
• First females (tax court): Jill A. Tanner and Coyreen Weidner in 1997^[10]
• First female (Chief Judge; Oregon Court of Appeals): Mary Deits in 1997^[13]
• First Hispanic American female (Oregon Court of Appeals): Darleen Ortega (1989) in 2003^[14]
• First African American (female) (appellate court): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2006^[15][16][17]
• First Asian American female: Youlee Yim You in 2007^[14][18]
• First openly lesbian female (Supreme Court of Oregon): Virginia Linder (1980) in 2007^[19][20]
• First openly lesbian and Asian American (female) (Oregon Court of Appeals): Lynn Nakamoto (1985) in 2011^[21][22]
• First openly lesbian and Asian American (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Lynn Nakamoto (1985) in 2015^[21][22]
• First African American (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2018^[15][16]
• First female (Chief Justice; Supreme Court of Oregon): Martha Lee Walters in 2018^[23]
• First Laotian American (female): Chanpone Sinlapasai in 2022^[24]
• First South Asian (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Aruna Masih in 2023^[25]

Federal judges

• First female (U.S. District Court of Oregon): Helen Frye (1966) in 1980^[26]
• First female (U.S. Bankruptcy Court): Polly Higden in 1983^[27][10][28]
• First female (magistrate; United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Janice Stewart in 1993^[18]
• First female (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Susan P. Graber (1972) in 1998^[29]
• First female (Chief Judge; United States District Court Judge for the District of Oregon): Ann Aiken (1979) in 2009
• First Asian American (female) (magistrate; United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Youlee Yim You in 2016^[14][18]
• First Asian American (female) (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Jennifer Sung in 2021^[30]

Attorney General

• First female: Ellen Rosenblum (1975) in 2012^[31]

Assistant Attorney General

• First (African American) female (Department of Justice): Armonica Gilford (1981) in 1989^[32]

Solicitor General

• First openly lesbian female: Virginia Linder (1980) from 1986-1997^[19][20]

United States Attorney

• First female (law clerk): Susan P. Graber (1972)^[29]

Political Office

• First openly bisexual female (governor): Kate Brown (1985) in 2015^[33]

Oregon State Bar Association

• First female president: Julie Frantz in 1992^[34]
• First Asian American (female) president: Liani J. Reeves in 2020^[35]

Firsts in local history

• Barb Haslinger and Alta Brady:^[36] First female judges respectively in Central Oregon (1990 and 1994)
• Paula Bechtold (1975):^[37] First female judge in Coos County, Oregon
• Diana Wales (1977):^[38] First female lawyer in private practice in Roseburg, Oregon [Douglas County, Oregon]
• Jeannette Thatcher Marshall (1946):^[39] First female lawyer in Medford, Oregon [Jackson County, Oregon]
• Beth Heckert:^[40] First female District Attorney for Jackson County, Oregon (c. 2013)
• Valerie Love:^[14] First Asian American female to become a Judge of the Lane County Circuit Court, Oregon (2007)
• Clara Rigmaiden:^[14] First Hispanic American female to become a Judge of the Lane County Circuit Court, Oregon (2007)
• Patty Perlow:^[41] First female District Attorney for Lane County, Oregon (2015)
• Jolie Russo (1988):^[42] First female magistrate in Eugene, Oregon (2016) [Lane County, Oregon]
• Sharon Cox Stevens (1978):^[43] First female lawyer in Linn County, Oregon
• Hattie Bratzel Kremen:^[44] First female District Attorney for Marion County, Oregon (1956-1964)
• Jean Lagerquist Lewis (1938):^[7][8][9] First female judge in Multnomah County, Oregon (1954)
• Beatrice Morrow Cannady (Law Degree, 1922):^[45] First African American female lawyer to appear in Portland, Oregon [Multnomah County, Oregon]^[46]
• Youlee You:^[14] First Asian American female to become a Judge of the Multnomah County Superior Court, Oregon (2007)
• Nancy W. Campbell:^[47] First female judge in Washington County, Oregon
• Carol E. Jones:^[48] First female judge appointed to the Yamhill County Circuit Court [Yamhill County, Oregon]

See also

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law

Other topics of interest

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Oregon

References

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2. Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. February 1983.
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4. "In Memoriam: Helen F. Althaus". www.osbar.org. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
5. "Anti-Suffraget [sic], Yet She Acted As State Judge". The Day Book. 1914-03-27. ISSN 2163-7121. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
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8. "CATHEDRAL CITY". cdnc.ucr.edu. November 18, 1954. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
9. McGraw, Noreen. "Judge Jean Lewis" (PDF). A Century of Service: Multnomah County Bar Association 100th Anniversary (1906-2006).
10. "Oregon Women Judges ~ Quick Facts ~" (PDF).
11. Martin, Mart (2018-04-24). The Almanac Of Women And Minorities In American Politics 2002. Routledge. ISBN 9780429976483.
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14. "2000 – 2014". Diversity Storywall. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
15. "First African-American, Adrienne Nelson, appointed to Oregon Supreme Court". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
16. "Meet Adrienne Nelson, the Second Black Female Judge in Oregon History". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
17. Upon her appointment to the Multnomah County Circuit Court
18. "Oregon Benchmarks" (PDF). U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society. 2016.
19. "Virginia Linder - Multnomah Bar Association". www.mbabar.org. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
20. Finnemore, Melody (2012-03-09). "Justice Virginia Linder sets the bar". Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
21. "Lynn Nakamoto first Asian-American on Oregon Supreme Court". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
22. "Hon. Lynn Nakamoto" (PDF). American Bar Association.
23. "Walters first woman sworn in as chief justice of Oregon Supreme Court". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
24. De Dios, Austin (2022-12-17). "Oregon appoints the first Laotian judge in the United States". oregonlive. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
25. Wong, Peter (2023-08-16). "Oregon Supreme Court gets its first South Asian justice". PortlandTribune.com. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
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27. "A Tribute" (PDF).
28. Wiener, Norman J. (Fall 2007). "Judge Polly Higdon" (PDF). Oregon Benchmarks.
29. Circuit), United States Court of Appeals (9th (2002). United States Courts, Ninth Circuit, ... Annual Report. Office of the Circuit Executive.
30. "NAPAWF Congratulates Lucy Koh and Jennifer Sung in Historic Federal Bench Confirmation for Asian American Women". NAPAWF. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
31. Alvino, Virginia. "Oregon Swears In First Female Attorney General". news.opb.org. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
32. "Welcome to the Oregon State Bar Online". www.osbar.org. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
33. Phillips, Amber (2016-11-10). "Meet Kate Brown, the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor of a state". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
34. Keenan, Cathy (March 26, 2006). "Five pioneers further cause of women lawyers in Oregon". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
35. "Liani J. Reeves". bullardlaw.com. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
36. Stiegler, Judy. "40 Years as Ladies of the Law". The Source Weekly - Bend. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
37. KCBY. "Coos County's first female judge to retire after 23 years". KCBY. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
38. News-Review, CARISA CEGAVSKE | Senior Staff Writer The. "Shattered glass: Local women react to Clinton nomination". NRToday.com. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
39. "Oregon State Bar Online - Jeannette Thatcher Marshall (Obituary)". www.osbar.org. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
40. Specht, Sanne (2012-05-17). "Heckert has won DA race". Mail Tribune. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
41. Kellner, Angela. "Lane County Gets Its First Female District Attorney". www.klcc.org. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
42. Lewis; Portl, Clark Law School 10015 S. W. Terwilliger Boulevard; USA 503-768-6600, Oregon 97219. "OSB Diversity Section and First Year Law Students Celebrate Judges". law.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
43. "Meet Your Division Officers and Delegates". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
44. "Candidate for Marion County DA stops by Creekside Chat". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
45. Taylor, Quintard; Moore, Shirley Ann Wilson (2008-08-01). African American Women Confront the West, 1600–2000. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806139791.
46. Cannady, though, did not pass the Oregon Bar examination. She is best remembered as an editor and civil rights advocate.
47. Lewis; Portl, Clark 0615 S. W. Palatine Hill Road; USA 503-768-7000, Oregon 97219. "Class Notes - 1970s". www.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
48. "Judge's death leaves opening on Yamhill County court". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.