Contents

List of first women lawyers and judges in Florida

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

• First female: Louise R. Pinnell (1898)^[2]
• First Hispanic American female: Elva Victoria Diaz (1932)^[2][3][4]
• First African American female: Bernice Gaines (1958)^[5][6][7]
• First Bangladeshi American (female): Zubaida Iqbal (2014)^[8]
• First female openly autistic: Haley Moss (2019)^[9][10]

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

• First female: Susan H. Black in 1979^[16][50]
• First African American female: Mary Scriven^[51]
• First African American (female) (Administrative Law Judge): Eleanor Hunter^[40]
• First female (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida): Lenore Carrero Nesbitt (1960) in 1983^[15]
• First Cuban American female (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida): Cecilia Altonaga (1983) in 2003^[52]
• First African American female (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida): Marcia G. Cooke in 2004^[53]
• First Hispanic American (female) (U.S. Bankruptcy Court - Southern District of Florida): Corali Lopez-Castro in 2023^[54]

• First female: Pam Bondi (1990) in 2010^[55]

• First female: Rebecca Bowles Hawkins (1935) in 1948^[56]

• First female (Middle District of Florida): Donna Bucella^[51]
• First Hispanic American female (Middle District of Florida): Maria Chapa Lopez in 2018^[51]
• First female (Southern District of Florida): Ariana Fajardo Orshan in 2018^{[57][58][59][60]}

• First female: Janet Reno (1963) in 1978^[61]
• First Cuban American (female): Katherine Fernandez Rundle in 1994^[62]
• First African American (female): Aramis Ayala in 2016^[63][64]

• First female: Susan H. Black in 1969^[16]

• First female: Annie Joe Law in 1928^[65][66]

• First female: Barbara Linthicum (1989-1990)^[67][68]

• First female president: Patricia A. Seitz from 1993-1994^[69]
• First African American female president-elect designate: Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes in 2024^[70]

• Stacy A. Scott:^[71] First female Public Defender of the Eighth Judicial Circuit (2010) [Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union Counties, Florida]
• Susan C. Bucklew:^[72][73] First female appointed as a Judge of the Hillsborough County Superior Court (1982) and circuit court judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Florida (1986)
• Lorelie P. Brannan:^[74] First female county court judge in Baker County, Florida (2022)
• Frances Ann Jamieson (1960):^[75] First female lawyer in Brevard County, Florida
• Cathleen B. Clarke:^[76] First African American (female) judge in Brevard County, Florida (1998)
• Angeline Weir (1960):^[26] First female County Solicitor in Broward County, Florida. She was also the first female President of the Broward County Bar Association (1983-1984).^[77]
• Mildred S. Akerman (1956):^[26] First female elected judge in Broward County, Florida (1959)
• Elizabeth Athanasakos (1957):^[26] First female municipal judge in Broward County, Florida (1964–1974)
• Barbara Bridge (1964):^[26] First female judge of the County Court in Broward County, Florida (1972)
• Mary Rudd-Robinson:^[78] First African American female judge in Broward County, Florida (1993)
• Florence Taylor Barner:^[79] First Haitian American (female) judge in Broward County, Florida
• Natasha DePrimo:^[80] First Asian American female judge in Broward County, Florida (2019)
• Alison Smith:^[81] First Black female to serve as the President of the Broward County Bar Association (2021)
• Cynthia Everett:^[82] First female (and African American) to serve as the City Attorney for Fort Lauderdale, Florida [Broward County, Florida]
• Pauline Drake:^[83] First African American female to serve on the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court (1998)^[84] [Clay, Duval and Nassau Counties, Florida]
• Kristina Mobley:^[85] First female county judge in Clay County, Florida (c. 2015)
• Hixon Holley:^[86] First female judge in Collier County, Florida
• Maria Ruhl:^[43] First Hispanic American female (and Hispanic American in general) appointed as a Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of Florida (2019) [DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties, Florida]
• Susan H. Black:^[16] First female to serve on the Duval County Court in Florida (1973-1975)
• Bessie Bellinger:^[11][12] First female to act in a judicial position in Escambia County, Florida (1922)
• Kathy Garner:^[28] First female (and African American) judge in Gadsden County, Florida (2009)
• Sheree H. Lancaster:^[87] First female judge in Gilchrist County, Florida
• Annie Joe Law:^[65][66] First female to serve as the County Attorney in Hernando County, Florida (1928)
• Linda J. Treiman (1976):^[88] First female lawyer in Brooksville, Florida [Hernando County, Florida]
• Mae Wood (c. 1896):^[89] First female lawyer in Hillsborough County, Florida
• Carolyn House Stewart:^[90] First African American female to serve as the Assistant State Attorney of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (1980) [Hillsborough County, Florida]
• Arthenia Joyner (1969):^[91] First African American female lawyer in Hillsborough County, Florida
• Josephine Howard Stafford:^[15][92] First female to serve on the Municipal Court of Tampa, Florida (1958) [Hillsborough County, Florida]
• Vivian Corvo:^[51] First Hispanic American female circuit judge in Hillsborough County, Florida
• Marva Crenshaw:^[51] First African American female circuit judge in Hillsborough County, Florida
• Julianne Holt:^[90] First female Public Defender of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit [Hillsborough County, Florida]
• Catherine McEwen:^[51] First female appointed as a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Tampa, Florida [Hillsborough County, Florida]
• Marsha Rydberg:^[51] First female to serve as the President of the Hillsborough County Bar Association
• Susan Johnson Velez:^[51] First African American female to serve as the President of Hillsborough County Bar Association (2013-2014)
• Gwynne Young:^[51] First female to serve as the Assistant State Attorney in Hillsborough County, Florida
• Nicole Menz:^[93] First female judge in Indian River County, Florida (2018)
• Judith Hawkins:^[94] First African American (female) judge in Leon County, Florida
• Cassandra Jackson:^[40] First African American female to serve as the City Attorney for Tallahassee, Florida [Leon County, Florida]
• Barbara Linthicum and Nancy Daniels:^[68][67] First female Public Defenders respectively for Leon County, Florida
• Edith Atkinson:^[13] First female judge in Dade County, Florida (1924)
• Gwen Cherry (1965):^[95] First African American female lawyer in Dade County, Florida
• Mattie Belle Davis:^[13][96] First female to serve on the Metropolitan Court of Dade County (1959), Florida
• Janet Reno (1963):^[61] First female to serve as a State's Attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida (1978)
• Kathy Fernandez Rundle:^[97] First Cuban American (female) to serve as a State Attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida (1993)
• Dixie L. Herlong Chastain:^[13] First female appointed as a judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in Dade County, Florida. She was also the sixth female judge in Florida.
• Bertila Soto:^[98] First Hispanic American/Cuban American (female) to serve as the Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, Florida (2013)
• Abigail Price Williams (1985):^[99] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Miami-Dade County, Florida (2015)
• Lody Jean:^[46] First Haitian American (female) to serve on the Miami-Dade County Court (2020)
• Suzanne Bass:^[100] First female judge in Nassau County, Florida
• Mary Sandefur Schulman (1943):^[101] First female lawyer in Okeechobee County, Florida
• Aramis Ayala:^[102] First African American (female) to serve as the State's Attorney of Orange County, Florida (2019)
• LaShawnda K. Jackson:^[103] First Black (female) President of the Orange County Bar Association (2021)
• Gabrielle Sanders:^[104] First African American female (and African American in general) judge in Osceola County, Florida (2019)
• Anne E'del Deacon:^[13] First female municipal judge in Palm Beach, Florida and fifth female judge in Florida [Palm Beach County, Florida]
• Catherine Brunson:^[105] First African American female lawyer to work for the Palm Beach County Attorney’s Office (1977), set up a law practice (1984), and to serve on the Circuit Court in Palm Beach County (1994)
• Sheree Davis Cunningham:^[106] First African American female judge in Palm Beach County, Florida
• Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes:^[107] First African American female to serve as President of the Palm County Bar Association, Florida (2017)
• Meenu Sasser:^[108] First Asian American (female) judge in Palm Beach County, Florida
• Danielle Sherriff:^[109] First Haitian American (female) judge in Palm Beach County, Florida (2023)
• Debra Roberts:^[110] First African American (female) judge in Pasco County, Florida (2002)
• Elizabeth Martin Leeman:^[111] First female lawyer to join the faculty of Stetson University School of Law (1970) [Pinellas County, Florida]
• Luz Nagle:^[51] First tenured Hispanic American (female) law professor at Stetson University College of Law (2004) [Pinellas County, Florida]
• C. Bette Wimbish (1968):^[112] First African American female lawyer in Pinellas County, Florida
• Catherine Harlan:^[113] First female county judge in Pinellas County, Florida
• Miriam Irizarry:^[51] First Hispanic American female county court judge in Pinellas County, Florida
• Elizabeth Kovachevich:^[51] First female elected as a circuit judge in Pinellas County, Florida
• Michèle Alexandre:^[114] First African American (female) to serve as the Dean of Stetson University College of Law (2019)
• Arthenia Joyner:^[115] First African American (female) lawyer in Polk County, Florida
• Karla Foreman Wright:^[28] First African American female judge in Polk County, Florida (2000)
• Mada Fraser Babcock McLendon:^[13] First female municipal judge in Lake Wales, Florida and third female judge in Florida [Polk County, Florida]
• Mary Kennerly Buckles:^[13] First female judge in Putnam County, Florida and second female judge in Florida
• Alicia Washington:^[47] First African American (female) judge to serve in Putnam County, Florida (2020)
• Donna Goerner:^[116] First African American female judge in Seminole County, Florida (2020)
• Peggy Elizabeth Ready:^[117] First female judge in St. Johns County, Florida as well as the county's first female assistant public defender
• Joan Anthony:^[47] First African American female to preside over a family court in St. Johns County, Florida (2021)
• Elsie O'Laughlin (1948):^[118] First female lawyer and judge in St. Lucie County, Florida
• Pamela Fort:^[119] First African American female lawyer in Fort Pierce, Florida [St. Lucie County, Florida]

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Florida