Celebrating Women in Law….

It’s March, which means it is officially Women’s History Month.… so many great women to celebrate, in so many different roles, all who helped shape the world we are living in….

This year, my NYLI colleagues and I decided to focus on Women who have made the law their profession, pioneers and contemporaries, who have made their mark not only in their profession but who’ve advanced the cause of justice…

While the current Supreme Court has 4 women serving as justices , Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, appointed by President Reagan in 1981. And before O’Connor’s Supreme Court Appointment, Genevieve Rose Cline was the first woman federal judge, appointed by President Coolidge to the US. Customs Court in 1928.

Long before O’Connor’s appointment, Arabella Mansfield was the first woman admitted to the bar in the U.S in 1869. Mansfield pursued an academic career and establishined the Iowa Woman Suffrage Society.

In 1870, Ada Kepley became the first American to graduate law school. Kepley focused her attention on the Temperance movement, ran as the Prohibition candidate for Illinois Attorney General and also lent her talents to the Women’s Suffrage movement.

A more contemporary (and closer to home!) pioneer is Bronx born Betty Weinberg Ellerin. Ellerin was first woman to be appointed Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department; first woman to be appointed Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department; first woman appointed Deputy Chief Administrator Judge for the Courts of the City of New York and founding member and director of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.

A lot has changed since Arabella Mansfield, Ada Kepley – and even since Sandra Day O’Connor and Betty Weinberg Ellerin were practicing law….

Consider….

The ABA’s “Women in the Legal Profession” report states the past decade may become known as the “Decade of the Female Lawyer” . ABA’s report offers these groundbreaking statistics….

• In 2016, women became a majority of law school students.
• In 2020, women became a majority of general lawyers in the federal government.
• In 2023, women became a majority of law firm associates.
• In 2024 or 2025, women will likely become a majority of full-time law school faculty members.
• 56.2% Percentage of law students who are women
• 51.5% Percentage of federal government general lawyers who are women
• 50.3% Percentage of law firm associates who are women
• 49.2% Percentage of full-time law school faculty who are women

Reading the full ABA “Women in the Legal Profession” is celebratory –click here for access…