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List of first women lawyers and judges in Florida

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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 graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Florida's history

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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)

Law School

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  • First female law graduate: Mary Stewart Howarth-Hewitt (c. 1908)[1]

Lawyers

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State judges

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  • First female (judicial capacity): Bessie Bellinger in 1922[11][12]
  • First female (judge): Edith Atkinson in 1924[13][14]
  • First female (serve temporarily on the Florida District Court of Appeal and Florida Supreme Court) Rhea Grossman in 1971 and 1972 respectively[15]
  • First female (county court and circuit court): Susan H. Black in 1973 and 1975 respectively[16]
  • First female (appellate court): Anne C. Booth in 1978[17][18]
  • First female (business court): Renee Roche in 2004[19]
  • First Hispanic American female (circuit court): Maria Korvick in 1981[15]
  • First African American female: Leah Simms (1974) in 1981[20][21][22]
  • First Cuban American female: Margarita Esquiroz (1974) in 1984[23][24][25]
  • First (Arab American and Hispanic American) female (Florida Supreme Court): Rosemary Barkett (1970) in 1985[26]
  • First female (Fourth District Court of Appeal): Bobby W. Gunther in 1986[27][28]
  • First African American female (circuit court): Melvia Green in 1989[29]
  • First (Arab American and Hispanic American) female (Florida Supreme Court; Chief Justice): Rosemary Barkett (1970) in 1992[26]
  • First African American female (Second District Court of Appeal): Peggy Quince (1975) in 1993[21][30]
  • First openly lesbian female: Victoria Sigler in 1994[31]
  • First Jewish American female (Florida Supreme Court): Barbara Pariente in 1997[32]
  • First African American female (Fourth District Court of Appeal): Carole Y. Taylor (1974) in 1998[27][33]
  • First African American female (Florida Supreme Court): Peggy Quince (1975) in 1998[21][30]
  • First African American female (Thirteenth Judicial Circuit): Marva L. Crenshaw in 2000[29]
  • First openly lesbian female (circuit court): Victoria Sigler in 2000[34]
  • First African American female (Fifth Circuit Court): Sandra Edwards-Stephens in 2000[29]
  • First Cuban American female (Second District Court of Appeal): Virginia M. Hernandez Covington (1980) in 2001[35]
  • First African American (female) (First Judicial Circuit): Joyce H. Williams in 2005[29]
  • First Colombian American (female): Catalina M. Avalos in 2005[36]
  • First Hispanic American (Cuban American) female (Third District Court of Appeals): Barbara Lagoa (1992) in 2006[37]
  • First Ethiopian American (female): Nina Ashenafi-Richardson in 2008[38][39]
  • First African American female (Florida Supreme Court; Chief Justice): Peggy Quince (1975) in 2008[21][30]
  • First African American female (First District Court of Appeals): Nikki Clark in 2009[40]
  • First Colombian American (female) elected: Diana Gonzalez-Whyte in 2012[41]
  • First African American female (Second Judicial Circuit Court): Barbara Hobbs in 2012[42]
  • First Asian American [female] (Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida): Jeanette Dejuras Bigney in 2012[43]
  • First Cuban American female (Chief Circuit Judge; Eleventh Judicial Circuit): Bertila Soto (1986) in 2013[44]
  • First (Hispanic American) female (Twelfth Judicial Circuit): Maria Ruhl in 2019[45]
  • First Hispanic American (Cuban American) female (Florida Supreme Court): Barbara Lagoa (1992) in 2019[37]
  • First female (Chief Judge; Twelfth Judicial Circuit): Kimberly C. Bonner in 2019[46]
  • First Caribbean American (female) (justice-designate of the Florida Supreme Court until appointment was nullified): Renatha Francis in 2020[47]
  • First Haitian American (female) (Eleventh Circuit Court): Lody Jean in 2020[48]
  • First African American female (Seventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida): Alicia Washington in 2020[49]
  • First Colombian American (female) (Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida): Tarlika Nunez-Navarro in 2021[50]
  • First Filipino American (female): Melissa Cordon Black in 2022[51]

Federal judges

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Attorney General of Florida

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Assistant Attorney General of Florida

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  • First female: Rebecca Bowles Hawkins (1935) in 1948[58]

United States Attorney

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State Attorney

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Assistant State Attorney

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County Attorney

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  • First female: Annie Joe Law in 1928[67][68]

Public Defender

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  • First female: Barbara Linthicum (1989-1990)[69][70]

Florida Bar Association

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  • First female president: Patricia A. Seitz from 1993-1994[71]
  • First African American female president-elect designate: Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes in 2024[72]

Firsts in local history

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See also

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Other topics of interest

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References

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  1. ^ "2005 Inductees". www.stetson.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  2. ^ a b "Celebrating Florida's first 150 women lawyers". www.floridabar.org. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  3. ^ Atencio, Dolores S. (2023). "Luminarias: An Empirical Portrait of the First Generation of Latina Lawyers 1880-1980". Chicana/o Latina/o Law Review. 39 (1). doi:10.5070/cllr.v39i1.61869. ISSN 1061-8899.
  4. ^ The Florida Women's Bar Association mistakenly identified Marian Borros (1926) as the first Hispanic female lawyer in the state. It was determined by Atencio (2023) that Borros was actually of Danish-Swedish descent.
  5. ^ Angela (2018-01-04). "On Being the First: An Interview With Bernice Gaines". BlackHer.us. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
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  8. ^ "Law Offices of Zubaida Iqbal". Bangladesh Circle. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
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  11. ^ a b Women Lawyers' Journal. Women Lawyers' Club. 1919.
  12. ^ a b Humanities, National Endowment for the (1922-02-25). "The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, February 25, 1922, Image 1". The Pensacola Journal. ISSN 1941-109X. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
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  14. ^ Upon Atkinson's appointment as a Judge of the Juvenile Court of Dade County
  15. ^ a b c d Loquasto, Wendy (Spring 2004). "FAWL CHRONICLES: GENDER BIAS IN THE JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS THEN AND NOW" (PDF). FAWL Journal.
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  17. ^ "Timeline of the life of Reubin Askew, 37th governor of Florida". Tampa Bay Times. 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  18. ^ Upon Booth's appointment to the First District Court of Appeal in Florida
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  21. ^ a b c d Dillard, Kalinthia R. (February 2014). "African-American Women and the Judiciary: Past, Present, and Future" (PDF). Bulletin (Palm Beach County Bar Association).
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  25. ^ Upon Esquiroz's appointment as a circuit judge in Dade County in 1984
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  28. ^ Gunther also served as a Judge of the Circuit Court (1981–1986) and Judge of the County Court (1973–1981).
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  36. ^ "Colombian American Bar to honor Avalos". The Florida Bar. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  37. ^ a b Staff, Digital (2019-01-09). "First Hispanic woman appointed to Florida Supreme Court". WEAR. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  38. ^ "LEON COUNTY JUDGE NINA ASHENAFI-RICHARDSON TO RECEIVE DISTINGUISHED JUDICIAL SERVICE PRO BONO AWARD – The Florida Bar". Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  39. ^ "Nina Ashenafi Richardson". Florida Commission on the Status of Women. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
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  41. ^ "Judge Gonzalez-Whyte Set Sights on Law at Young Age". Daily Business Review. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  42. ^ a b c "Church honors Tallahassee's black history pioneers in law and medicine". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  43. ^ "Judicial Spotlight | Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida". ninthcircuit.org. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  44. ^ "Bertila Soto '86 named Chief Judge of Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida". FIU News. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  45. ^ a b Anderson, Zac. "Maria Ruhl, region's first Hispanic judge, sworn in". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  46. ^ "Election of the new Chief Judge in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court - Sarasota County Bar Association". www.sarasotabar.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  47. ^ McLeod, Sheri-Kae (2020-05-27). "Jamaican-born Renatha Francis Becomes the First Caribbean-American Appointed to Florida Supreme Court". Caribbean News. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  48. ^ a b Torres, Andrea (2020-04-17). "DeSantis appoints Haitian-American woman to Eleventh Judicial Circuit". WPLG. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
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  50. ^ "Nunez-Navarro appointed to Ninth Judicial Circuit court". The Florida Bar. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
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  52. ^ Upon Black's appointment as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
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  54. ^ "BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD: Cecilia Altonaga | Best of Miami® 2003: Your Key to the City". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
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  56. ^ "Interview with the Honorable Corali Lopez-Castro, J.D. '90 – Florida's First Hispanic Bankruptcy Judge". news.miami.edu. August 22, 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  57. ^ "Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi under consideration to replace Sessions". Retrieved 2018-11-08.
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  60. ^ "Fajardo confirmed as first woman nominee to head U.S. Attorney office in South Florida". miamiherald. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  61. ^ "Ser la primera mujer fiscal federal para el sur de la Florida es algo increíble para mí". diariolasamericas.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-10-01.
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  63. ^ a b "How Janet Reno handled and bounced back from the biggest cases in her life". miamiherald. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  64. ^ "Meet the State Attorney". Office of Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  65. ^ "Black Florida state attorney Aramis Ayala pulled over in traffic stop, prompting outrage". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
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  68. ^ a b "Book honors "the women everyone else forgot to talk about." | Hernando Sun". www.hernandosun.com. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
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  70. ^ a b "Nancy Daniels has been a dedicated public servant". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
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  72. ^ "West Palm Beach attorney to become Florida Bar's first Black female president". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  73. ^ "Office of the Public Defender 8th Judicial Circuit". publicdefender.alachuacounty.us. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
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  78. ^ "Clarice appointment good step toward equality in judiciary". Florida Today. May 29, 1998. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  79. ^ "Past Presidents". BCBA. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
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  82. ^ "APABA of South Florida Congratulates Natasha DePrimo's Appointment and Investiture to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit's County Court". APABA of South Florida. 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
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  84. ^ "MEMORANDUM (RE: City Attorney Search Update: Recommended Candidates)". City of Vero Beach. April 12, 2019.
  85. ^ "The Marbut Report: Judge Pauline Drake retires | Jax Daily Record". Jacksonville Daily Record - Jacksonville, Florida. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  86. ^ Upon Drake's appointment to the Duval County Court in 1998
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  107. ^ Mangino, Matthew T. "Matthew T. Mangino: Prosecutors struggle with criminal justice reform". Burlington County Times. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
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