First Women

Women of the Missouri Court: First Event to feature the only four women who have served on the Missouri Supreme Court

SDevlin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:51:20 -0600

In all of Missouri’s history, only four women have served on the state Supreme Court. The Women’s Law Association (WLA) at the University of Missouri School of Law hosted the first event ever to feature and honor these four women. On Wednesday November 12, 2008 Judge Ann Covington, Judge Mary Russell, Judge Patricia Breckenridge, and current Justice Laura Stith sat on a panel together at the Law School to discuss the journey women have in the legal profession and future progress.

The judges spoke for over an hour to a courtroom packed with law students and professors. In all the years of statehood, Missouri has only had four women sit on its highest court. Yet, all four of those women have been in my lifetime. That has to provide tremendous hope and aspiration to young female attorneys and law students. All four women attribute the newfound diversity in the state's judiciary to the Missouri Court Plan, a nonpartisan system of appointing judges, rather than by political appointment or election.

First Women: Joan Lukey

Joan Lukey — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:15:51 -0500

At some point in virtually every working day, a thought passes through my mind -- sometimes grabbing hold and refusing to depart quickly -- about the women who have been my professional role models and about the impact that they have had upon my life.

A few weeks ago, in September, I was elected as the first woman President-Elect of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a spectacular group of trial lawyers in the U.S. and Canada whose ranks one can only join upon invitation. Next year, I shall automatically ascend to the Presidency. To head this group of the very best trial lawyers in North America is the greatest professional honor I could ever imagine -- even trumping my selection as the first woman "Best Oral Advocate" in the National Moot Court Competition in 1974! (Was I ever really only 24 years old?) The moment the gavel came down upon my election, I immediately thought of the one woman, more than any other person, who had made my ascent possible: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Ms. JD Summer Book Series: Sandra Day O'Connor, By: Joan Biskupic

Ms. JD Summer Book Series — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 14:39:46 -0500

Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice, By: Joan Biskupic

In this biography of Sandra Day O'Connor, author Joan Biskupic takes the reader through the life of O'Connor, from her early days on the Lazy B Ranch through her time on the Supreme Court. Biskupic portrays O'Connor as a sharp-witted, intelligent, and lively member of the Supreme Court.

As a longtime court observer and journalist, Biskpuic is able to reveal much about O'Connor's life due to the use of the justices' once private papers. The author specifically pays attention to O'Connor as the first female justice on the Supreme Court. In one anecdote, Biskupic recounts a story of when the Supreme Court Justices were discussing a case. During the discussion, Justice Scalia spoke out against affirmative action. O'Connor replied: "Why, Nino, how do you think I got my job?

Must Read: ABA Commission on Women - Oral Histories of Women Trailblazers in the Law

jessie — Wed, 9 Apr 2008 20:37:27 -0500

The ABA Commission on Women has compiled the testimonials of 17 remarkable women, including Professor Barbara Babcock and Judge Dorothy Nelson - both Ms. JD contributors, and Judge Betty Weinberg Ellerin - one of this year's Honored Guests at Ms. JD's Student Leadership Summit closing banquet. The transcripts make for a long but inspiring read, repleat with colorful anecdotes about the barriers to early women lawyers.

Profile & interview with Michelle Obama, lawyer and "super juggler" [Clippings]

Anna — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:42:03 -0600

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal profiled and interviewed Michelle Obama (J.D., Harvard Law School, 1988). Hat tip to John J. Edwards III at the WSJ Juggle Blog, who suggests reading the pieces for the perspective of a "super juggling" two-lawyer family with kids.

Must Read: The Counselors by Elizabeth Vrato

jessie — Sun, 3 Feb 2008 00:25:56 -0600

In 1991, Hillary Rodham Clinton in her capacity as President of the ABA's Commission on Women in the Profession established the Margaret Brent Award "to recognize some of the women who were crashing through the glass ceiling and changing the world." Elizabeth Vrato interviewed 18 recipients and collected their stories in her book, Counselors: Conversations with 18 Courageous Women Who Have Changed the World.

Lisa Richette, An Uncommon Judge [Clippings]

Anna — Fri, 4 Jan 2008 14:31:17 -0600

A classmate just sent me a link to Dick Polman's profile of Judge Lisa Richette in Obit Magazine, with the comment that Richette was "an amazing, inspiring, rebellious judge."

The Honorable Sandra L. Lynch: First Woman Appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Sandra L. Lynch — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:22:10 -0500

The Honorable Sandra L. Lynch, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit since 1995, is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Boston University Law School where she was Articles Editor of the Law Review. After clerking for Judge Raymond J. Pettine of the U.S.