These emotions may lead the witness to blurt out helpful information. In general, jurors tend to be impressed by lawyers who demonstrate power and control in the courtroom. But for female lawyers, projecting power and control is a tricky proposition.
In many of these cases, female trial lawyers are favored and even actively recruited. In the civil arena, for example, women have thrived in high-stakes medical-malpractice lawsuits where the plaintiff claims that the defendantâs product injured her genitalia or reproductive organs.
Thirteen Powerful And Famous Female Attorneys. 1 1. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The second female ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburgâs legal career is remarkable. She ... 2 2. Hillary Rodham Clinton. 3 3. Sandra Day OâConnor. 4 4. Sonya Sotomayor. 5 5. Elizabeth Warren. More items
One of the most impressive aspects of the legal profession is its ability to open doors and shatter glass ceilings in a variety of professional capacities. Here are thirteen female attorneys who rose to positions of prominence and power in law, government, and politics. 1. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Originally intended solely for female law students and law alumnae, the organization grew, making it the first professional organization for women lawyers. Burlingame eventually went into private practice and was regarded as a highly skilled lawyer until her death in 1890.
Lyda Burton Conley. In 1910, Lyda Burton Conley became the first Native American female lawyer in America. Her motivations were pure; she taught herself the law to protect her tribeâs cemetery burial land located in Huron Park Indian Cemetery from being sold.
Luckily, she became interested in a case that caught her eye and agreed to take it pro bono. Sarah Weddington was only 26 years old when she became the youngest person ever to argue and win a Supreme Court case. You may have heard of the case; the caption was Roe v. Wade.
In addition to her legal prowess, Cline was an early advocate for consumer protection, womenâs rights, and the suffrage movement.
A photo of the young child hiding in a closet being discovered by heavily armed agents made the front page of every newspaper in America, but Reno stood her ground based on her belief that she was upholding the rule of law. Janet Reno died in 2016 after a long battle with Parkinsonâs Disease.
Two years after winning election to the Arizona Court of Appeals, President Reagan appointed her to the United States Supreme Court in 1981, making her the first woman justice to serve on the Supreme Court in its 191-year history. She served for twenty-four years, during which she established herself as one of the most influential voices on the Court until her retirement in 2006.
At issue was the question of whether the right to receive a license to practice law is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to all American citizens. Not surprisingly, the answer was no; the Supreme Court held that states could statutorily deny women the right to practice law.
Janet Napolitano. Another woman with a massively impressive resume, Janet Napolitano may be the most accomplished woman in politics that most people have never heard about. She was the first woman attorney general for the state of Arizona before being elected Governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009.
Ada Kepley. In 1870, Ada Kepley became the first woman in the United States to graduate from law school. However, when she applied for a license, she was informed that Illinois law prohibited women from practicing law.
By the time the law was finally overturned, Kepley had diverted her energies to the support of social reforms, particularly the temperance movement. She became a fiery opponent of alcohol use, utilizing her skills and talents to rise to a position of national prominence in the temperance movement.
Upon her graduation from Yale Law in 1979, she worked as an assistant district attorney in New York for four-and-a-half years before entering private practice in 1984. Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush in 1991.
Outside the classroom, Ginsburg spent a substantial part of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and womenâs rights. She won numerous victories arguing before the Supreme Court, volunteering as a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in the 1970âs.
Despite partisan political maneuvering in the Senate, she was finally confirmed in 1998. In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by David Souter. She was confirmed by a vote of 68-31 and has consistently served as one of the most liberal voices on the Court. 5.
She started at Harvard before transferring to Columbia Law School, where she graduated in a tie for first in her class.
After graduating from Columbia, Motley became the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fundâs (LDF) first female attorney. Motley went on to become Associate Counsel to the LDF, making her a lead attorney in many significant civil rights cases. In 1950, Motley wrote the original complaint in the case of Brown v.
Charlotte Ray graduated from the Howard University School of Law on February 27, 1872, and was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar on March 2, 1872, making her the first black female attorney in the United States. She was also admitted as the first black female to practice in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia on April 23, 1872.
On July 22, 1939, Mayor of New York City, Fiorello La Guardia, appointed Bolin as a judge of the Domestic Relations Court, making Bolin the first black woman to serve as a judge in the United States. Bolin proceeded to be the only black female judge in the country for twenty years. Bolin remained a judge of the court for 40 years ...
Baker was inspired to attend law school after hearing a speech by Yale Law School graduate George Crawford, a civil rights attorney for the New Haven Branch of the NAACP.
In 2020, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris successfully won their election as President and Vice President of the United States, making Harris the first woman, first African American, and first South Asian American Vice President in U.S. history.
In 1966, Motley broke another glass ceiling by becoming the first African-American federal judge after her nomination to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Historic Firsts: First African-American woman appointed to the federal judiciary.
In 1972, Jordan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as the first woman elected to represent Texas in the House. While serving in the House, she was a member of the House Judiciary Committee and where she later delivered an influential televised speech supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
Charlotte E. Ray was the first-ever female attorney of color in the United States and the first to practice in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. In fact, her admission to the District of Columbia Bar was used as a precedent by women in other states to get admission to their statesâ bars.
Eunice Carter was one of New York's first black female lawyers, and one of the first prosecutors of color in the United States. She played an enthusiastic and active role in the United Nations committees to advance the status of women in the world.
Bella AbzugâAKA âBattling Bellaââis one of the most influential female attorneys and womenâs rights activists in history, advocating tirelessly for the rights of people of all genders, races, religions, and sexual orientations. A graduate of Columbia Law School, Bella was an American lawyer, a member of the U.S.
Constance Baker Motley broke so many glass ceilings for women in law that conservatories, greenhouses, and sunrooms around the world set up an official ban on her entering them. Seriously though, Ms.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg is arguably one of the most famous female lawyers in history and for good reason. From graduating at the top of her class at Columbia Law School and returning to teach civil procedure to become the second-ever female lawyer to serve on the United States Supreme Court, Ginsbergâs career is a remarkable and inspiring one.
Gloria Allred is a famous female lawyerâconsidered one of the most influential in the legal profession todayâand a champion for womenâs rights both in and out the courtroom.
As the first Latina and Hispanic Supreme Court Justice appointed to the bench, Sonya Sotomayor has blazed many trails for female lawyers. In 1991, then-President George H. W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Six years later, she was nominated to the U.S.
Whilst the wildly popular SATC is firmly focused on sex, âRabbitsâ, love and other bedroom dramas, who can forget one its favourite characters, Miranda Hobbes, the hard working, fiery haired lawyer who famously quits her job because of her misogynistic boss.
2. Ally McBeal â Ally McBeal. Loosely based on the personal traits of his stunning, neurotic wife, Michelle Pfeiffer (well, âallegedlyâ), David Kelley dreamed up one of the most famous and memorable lawyers of all time â the ditzy, quirky, charming, paranoid (hallucinations anyone?) wisp of a woman, Ally McBeal.
Entering the legal genre with a bang this year was the ruthless Keating (played by charismatic Viola Davis), a âtake no prisonersâ criminal law lecturer and law firm owner who runs a legal class called âHow to Get Away with Murderâ.
Jessica Pearson â Suits. The Managing Partner of big city law firm, Pearson Specter Litt, Pearson sassily sways around the office commanding respect from all who report to her â sheâs a control freak whohas worked hard to build a legal life sheâs proud of and she wonât let anyone stand in her way.
Quotes: Alicia Florrick: âOh yes, itâs time to kick some ass.â.
But in 2017, the New York attorney proved himself to be a bigger thug when he was arrested for kidnapping, fraud, and extortion.
To do this, Rudd and his firm hired John Collucci, a former employee of their opponent, to log into the companyâs system using his password. With this, they were able to access the firmâs GPS and information on clients. 6.
In Kentucky, Eric Conn was known as âMr. Social Securityâ because he specialized in social security cases for his elderly clients. But it turns out, Conn was conning the government, using fake medical reports to get disability claims approved, and instead of facing the consequences, he went on the run for months.
Search Jobs. 1. Well-known attorney David Boies found himself caught in an ethics scandal when it was revealed he represented Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein the same time his firm represented The New York Times, which was working on a takedown of the Weinstein Company founder.
Boies denied the conflict of interest, saying that his firm did not have to disclose details to the Times that did not apply to the cases it had hired his firm for, but the damage was done. The New York Times fired his firm, and his public image was damaged. 2.
Social-science research has demonstrated that when female attorneys show emotions like indignation, impatience, or anger, jurors may see them as shrill, irrational, and unpleasant. The same emotions, when expressed by men, are interpreted as appropriate to the circumstances of a case.
Undeterred, Foltz drafted the Woman Lawyerâs Bill, successfully lobbied the state legislature to pass it, took the bar exam, and, on September 5, 1878, became the first female attorney admitted to the California bar. Today, Foltz is seen in feminist legal circles as a pioneering hero.
Faiella told the trial judge, a man, that Doyleâs allegations were sexist and untrue. The judge asked Doyle whether he had a basis for the motion.
In a landmark 2001 report on sexism in the courtroom, Deborah Rhode, a Stanford Law professor, wrote that women in the courtroom face what she described as a âdouble standard and a double bind.â. Women, she wrote, must avoid being seen as âtoo âsoftâ or too âstrident,â too âaggressiveâ or ânot aggressive enough.â. â.
Doyle had filed a motion seeking to âpreclude emotional displaysâ during the trialânot by the patient, but by Faiella. âCounsel for the Plaintiff, Elizabeth Faiella, has a proclivity for displays of anguish in the presence of the jury, including crying,â Doyle wrote in his motion.
When you invade a witnessâs personal space, the witness may feel stress, anxiety, and anger. These emotions may lead the witness to blurt out helpful information. In general, jurors tend to be impressed by lawyers who demonstrate power and control in the courtroom.
Before the trial began, she and the defense attorney, David O. Doyle Jr., were summoned to a courtroom in Brevard County, Florida, for a hearing. Doyle had filed a motion seeking to âpreclude ...