This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Florida. 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 Florida's history
Law School
First female law graduate: Mary Stewart Howarth-Hewitt (c. 1908)
Lawyers
First female: Louise R. Pinnell (1898) First Spanish American female: Elva Victoria Diaz (1933)The Florida Women's Bar Association mistakenly identified Marian Borros (1926) as the first Hispanic female lawyer in the state. It was determined by Atencio (2023) that Borros was actually of Danish-Swedish descent. First African American female: Bernice Gaines (1958) First deaf (female) admitted to Florida State Bar: Karen Jones (1984) First Bangladeshi American (female): Zubaida Iqbal (2014) First Dominican (female) authorized to practice Dominican law in Florida: Francia Liriano (2015) First female openly autistic: Haley Moss (2019)
State judges
First female (county court): Bessie Bellinger in 1922 (to complete her late husband's term) First female (judge): Edith Atkinson in 1924Upon Atkinson's appointment as a Judge of the Juvenile Court of Dade County First female (serve temporarily on the Florida District Court of Appeal and Florida Supreme Court) Rhea Grossman in 1971 and 1972 respectively First female (county court and circuit court): Susan H. Black in 1973 and 1975 respectively First female (appellate court): Anne C. Booth in 1978Upon Booth's appointment to the First District Court of Appeal in Florida First female (business court): Renee Roche in 2004 First Hispanic American female (of Cuban descent): Margarita Esquiroz (1974) in 1979Upon Esquiroz's appointment as a circuit judge in Dade County in 1984 First Hispanic American female (circuit court): Maria Korvick in 1981 First African American female: Leah Simms (1974) in 1981Upon Simms appointment as a Judge of the Dade County Superior Court in 1981 First (Arab American and Hispanic American) female (Florida Supreme Court): Rosemary Barkett (1970) in 1985 First female (Fourth District Court of Appeal): Bobby W. Gunther in 1986Gunther also served as a Judge of the Circuit Court (1981–1986) and Judge of the County Court (1973–1981). First African American female (circuit court): Melvia Green in 1989 First (Arab American and Hispanic American) female (Florida Supreme Court; Chief Justice): Rosemary Barkett (1970) in 1992 First African American female (Second District Court of Appeal): Peggy Quince (1975) in 1993 First openly lesbian female: Victoria Sigler in 1994 First Jewish American female (Florida Supreme Court): Barbara Pariente in 1997 First African American female (Fourth District Court of Appeal): Carole Y. Taylor (1974) in 1998 First African American female (Florida Supreme Court): Peggy Quince (1975) in 1998 First African American female (Thirteenth Judicial Circuit): Marva L. Crenshaw in 2000 First openly lesbian female (circuit court): Victoria Sigler in 2000 First African American female (Fifth Circuit Court): Sandra Edwards-Stephens in 2000 First Cuban American female (Second District Court of Appeal): Virginia M. Hernandez Covington (1980) in 2001 First African American (female) (First Judicial Circuit): Joyce H. Williams in 2005 First Colombian American (female): Catalina M. Avalos in 2005 First Hispanic American (Cuban American) female (Third District Court of Appeals): Barbara Lagoa (1992) in 2006 First Ethiopian American (female): Nina Ashenafi-Richardson in 2008 First African American female (Florida Supreme Court; Chief Justice): Peggy Quince (1975) in 2008 First African American female (First District Court of Appeals): Nikki Clark in 2009 First Colombian American (female) elected: Diana Gonzalez-Whyte in 2012 First African American female (Second Judicial Circuit Court): Barbara Hobbs in 2012 First Asian American [female] (Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida): Jeanette Dejuras Bigney in 2012 First Cuban American female (Chief Circuit Judge; Eleventh Judicial Circuit): Bertila Soto (1986) in 2013 First Dominican (female): Gisela Laurent in 2016 (upon her appointment to the Ninth Circuit Court) First (Hispanic American) female (Twelfth Judicial Circuit): Maria Ruhl in 2019 First Hispanic American (Cuban American) female (Florida Supreme Court): Barbara Lagoa (1992) in 2019 First female (Chief Judge; Twelfth Judicial Circuit): Kimberly C. Bonner in 2019 First Caribbean American (female) (justice-designate of the Florida Supreme Court until appointment was nullified): Renatha Francis in 2020 First Haitian American (female) (Eleventh Circuit Court): Lody Jean in 2020 First African American female (Seventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida): Alicia Washington in 2020 First Colombian American (female) (Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida): Tarlika Nunez-Navarro in 2021 First Filipino American (female): Melissa Cordon Black in 2022
Federal judges
First female: Susan H. Black in 1979Upon Black's appointment as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida First African American female: Mary Scriven First African American (female) (Administrative Law Judge): Eleanor Hunter First female (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida): Lenore Carrero Nesbitt (1960) in 1983 First Cuban American female (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida): Cecilia Altonaga (1983) in 2003 First African American female (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida): Marcia G. Cooke in 2004 First Hispanic American (female) (U.S. Bankruptcy Court - Southern District of Florida): Corali Lopez-Castro in 2023
Attorney General of Florida
First female: Pam Bondi (1990) in 2010
Assistant Attorney General of Florida
First female: Rebecca Bowles Hawkins (1935) in 1948
United States Attorney
First female (Middle District of Florida): Donna Bucella First Hispanic American female (Middle District of Florida): Maria Chapa Lopez in 2018 First female (Southern District of Florida): Ariana Fajardo Orshan in 2018
State Attorney
First female: Janet Reno (1963) in 1978 First Cuban American (female): Katherine Fernandez Rundle in 1994 First African American (female): Aramis Ayala in 2016
Assistant State Attorney
First female: Susan H. Black in 1969
County Attorney
First female: Annie Joe Law in 1928
Public Defender
First female: Barbara Linthicum (1989-1990)
Florida Bar Association
First female president: Patricia A. Seitz from 1993-1994 First African American female president-elect designate: Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes in 2024
Firsts in local history Stacy A. Scott: First female Public Defender of the Eighth Judicial Circuit (2010) [Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union Counties, Florida] Susan C. Bucklew: First female appointed as a Judge of the Hillsborough County Superior Court (1982) and circuit court judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Florida (1986) Alexcia Cox: First African American female to serve as the Attorney General of the 15th Judicial Circuit, Florida (2025) Lorelie P. Brannan: First female county court judge in Baker County, Florida (2022) Frances Ann Jamieson (1960): First female lawyer in Brevard County, Florida Cathleen B. Clarke: First African American (female) judge in Brevard County, Florida (1998) Angeline Weir (1960): First female County Solicitor in Broward County, Florida. She was also the first female President of the Broward County Bar Association (1983-1984). Mildred S. Akerman (1956): First female elected judge in Broward County, Florida (1959) Elizabeth Athanasakos (1957): First female municipal judge in Broward County, Florida (1964–1974) Barbara Bridge (1964): First female judge of the County Court in Broward County, Florida (1972) Mary Rudd-Robinson: First African American female judge in Broward County, Florida (1993) Florence Taylor Barner: First Haitian American (female) judge in Broward County, Florida Natasha DePrimo: First Asian American female judge in Broward County, Florida (2019) Alison Smith: First Black female to serve as the President of the Broward County Bar Association (2021) Cynthia Everett: First female (and African American) to serve as the City Attorney for Fort Lauderdale, Florida [Broward County, Florida] Pauline Drake: First African American female to serve on the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court (1998)Upon Drake's appointment to the Duval County Court in 1998 [Clay, Duval and Nassau Counties, Florida] Kristina Mobley: First female county judge in Clay County, Florida (c. 2015) Hixon Holley: First female judge in Collier County, Florida Maria Ruhl: 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: First female to serve on the Duval County Court in Florida (1973-1975) Rhonda Peoples-Waters: First African American (female) judge in Duval County, Florida (2021) Pauline M. Drake: First African American female to serve as a County Judge in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida Bessie Bellinger: First female to act in a judicial position in Escambia County, Florida (1922) Kathy Garner: First female (and African American) judge in Gadsden County, Florida (2009) Sheree H. Lancaster: First female judge in Gilchrist County, Florida Annie Joe Law: First female to serve as the County Attorney in Hernando County, Florida (1928) Heidi Davis: First female judge in Hernando County, Florida (2010). She is also the first female circuit court judge for Lake County, Florida. Linda J. Treiman (1976): First female lawyer in Brooksville, Florida [Hernando County, Florida] Mae Wood (c. 1896): First female lawyer in Hillsborough County, Florida Carolyn House Stewart: First African American female to serve as the Assistant State Attorney of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (1980) [Hillsborough County, Florida] Arthenia Joyner (1969): First African American female lawyer in Hillsborough County, Florida Josephine Howard Stafford: First female to serve on the Municipal Court of Tampa, Florida (1958) [Hillsborough County, Florida] Vivian Corvo: First Hispanic American female circuit judge in Hillsborough County, Florida Marva Crenshaw: First African American female circuit judge in Hillsborough County, Florida Julianne Holt: First female Public Defender of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit [Hillsborough County, Florida] Catherine McEwen: First female appointed as a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Tampa, Florida [Hillsborough County, Florida] Marsha Rydberg: First female to serve as the President of the Hillsborough County Bar Association Susan Johnson Velez: First African American female to serve as the President of Hillsborough County Bar Association (2013-2014) Gwynne Young: First female to serve as the Assistant State Attorney in Hillsborough County, Florida Nicole Menz: First female judge in Indian River County, Florida (2018) Judith Hawkins: First African American (female) judge in Leon County, Florida Cassandra Jackson: First African American female to serve as the City Attorney for Tallahassee, Florida [Leon County, Florida] Barbara Linthicum and Nancy Daniels: First female Public Defenders respectively for Leon County, Florida Edith Atkinson: First female judge in Dade County, Florida (1924) Gwen Cherry (1965): First African American female lawyer in Dade County, Florida Mattie Belle Davis: First female to serve on the Metropolitan Court of Dade County (1959), Florida Janet Reno (1963): First female to serve as a State's Attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida (1978) Kathy Fernandez Rundle: First Cuban American (female) to serve as a State Attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida (1993)