This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in California. 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
Mary McHenry Keith: First female law graduate in California (1882)
Lawyers
Clara Shortridge Foltz (1878): First female lawyer (and notary public) in California Christine la Barraque (c. 1906): First blind female lawyer in California Annie Coker (1929): First African American female lawyer in California Chiyoko Sakamoto (Takahashi) (1938): First Japanese American female lawyer in California Emma Ping Lum (c. 1946): First Chinese American female lawyer in California Mary Virginia Orozco (1962): First Latino American female lawyer in California Eleanor Nisperos (1972): First Filipino American female lawyer in California Abby Abinanti (1974): First Native American (Yurok) female lawyer in California Norma Samra (1986): First Indian American female lawyer in California Vanessa Pumar (2015): First undocumented female lawyer in California