This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Virginia. 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 state history
Law school
First female law graduates: Elizabeth N. Tompkins and Jane Brown Ranson in 1923
Lawyers
First female to practice before state's federal court: Belva Ann Lockwood in 1879 First females licensed: Rebecca Pearl Lovenstein and Carrie M. Gregory (1920) First female to practice before the Virginia Supreme Court: Mildred Callahan in 1923 First African American female: Lavinia Marian Fleming Poe (1925) First African American female (full-time government attorney): Alda White First African American female (major law firm partner): Jacquelyn Stone in 1994
State judges
First female: Mary Kerr Moorehead Harris in 1922
First female (county court): Anna Fancher Hedrick (1930) in 1951
First female (Virginia Supreme Court): Elizabeth B. Lacy in 1989
First African American female: Angela Roberts in 1990
First African American female (First Judicial Circuit): Eileen A. Olds (1982) in 1995 First female (Twenty-Fifth Judicial District): Virginia Anita Filson in 2001 First Hispanic American (female): Uley Norris Damiani in 2009 First African American female (Virginia Supreme Court): Cleo Powell (1982) in 2011 First female (Chief Justice; Virginia Supreme Court): Cynthia D. Kinser in 2011 First Asian American female: Maha-Rebekah Abejuela in 2019
Federal judges
First African American female (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Allyson Kay Duncan (1975) in 2003 First African American female (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia): Arenda Wright Allen (1985) in 2011 First female (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia): Elizabeth K. Dillon (1986) in 2014 First African American (female) (U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia): Klinette H. Kindred (1970) in 2017 First female (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Barbara Milano Keenan (1991)
Attorney General of Virginia
First female: Mary Sue Terry (1973) from 1986-1993
Deputy Attorney General
First female: Elizabeth B. Lacy in 1982
Virginia Bar Association
First female (presidents): Anita Poston and Jeanne Franklin respectively from 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 First African American (female): Doris Henderson Causey in 2017 First Latino American female: Stephanie E. Grana in 2022
Firsts in local history
Eleanor Dobson (1974): First female judge in Arlington County, Virginia (1982) Judith Wheat: First female to serve as the Chief Judge of the Arlington County Circuit Court (2023) Elaine Jones: First African American female to attend and graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law (1970) Tania M.L. Saylor: First female of color to serve as a Judge of the Fairfax County Circuity Court (2022) Lee Lovett (1947): First female lawyer in Winchester, Virginia, Frederick County, Virginia Lorrie A. Sinclair Taylor: First African American (female) judge in Loudoun County, Virginia (2020) Stephanie Morales: First female elected as the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Portsmouth, Virginia (2015) Janice Wellington: First female (and African American) judge in Prince William County, Virginia (1990) Phoebe Hall: First female to serve as the Public Defender for Richmond, Virginia Rachel Figura: First female judge for the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia (2019) Kimberly M. Jenkins: First female judge for the 30th Judicial Circuit Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, from Scott County, Virginia (2019) Alda White: First female (and African American female) to serve as the County Attorney for Stafford County, Virginia Suzanne Kuzco Fulton: First female to serve as General District Court Judge for Wise County and the 30th Judicial Circuit (1989-2005)