This list includes individuals self-identified as African Americans who have made prominent contributions to the field of law in the United States, especially as eminent judges or legal scholars. Individuals who may have obtained law degrees or practiced law, but whose reasons for notability are not closely related to that profession, are generally not listed here.
Attorneys and legal scholars Name Historical significanceViolette Neatley Anderson (1882–1937)First African-American woman to practice law before the United States Supreme Court on January 29, 1926Dennis Archer (b. 1942)Dennis Archer Becomes First African American President-Elect of the American Bar Association First African American president of the American Bar Association; former mayor of DetroitDerrick Bell (1930–2011) Proponent of critical race theory; law professor at Harvard UniversityStephen L. Carter (b. 1954) William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale Law SchoolJohnnie Cochran (1937–2005) Prominent defense attorneyChristopher Darden (b. 1956) Associate District Attorney of Los Angeles who gained fame as a prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson trialMarian Wright Edelman (b. 1939) Founder of the Children's Defense FundLani Guinier (1950–2022)Harvard University biography of Lani Guinier Voting rights scholar; first African American woman tenured by Harvard Law SchoolWilliam Henry Harrison Hart (1857–1934)Gates, Jr. and Higginbotham, African American National Biography, Volume 4. (2008), p. 104. Attorney who fought against Jim Crow lawsBarbara Jordan (1936–1996) First African American Congresswoman from a southern state; while on House Judiciary Committee was influential in impeachment of Richard NixonWade H. McCree (1920–1987) Second African American (following Thurgood Marshall) to serve as Solicitor General of the United StatesBarack Obama (b. 1961)University of Chicago law professor, United States Senator, first African-American President of the Harvard Law Review, and 44th President of the United States of AmericaIda Platt (1862–1939)First African-American woman licensed to practice law in Illinois, and the third in the United StatesCharlotte E. Ray (1850–1911)First Black American female lawyer in the United StatesScovel Richardson (1912–1982)Party to a housing desegregation case anticipating Shelley v. Kraemer; also a judge in federal courts from 1957Patricia J. Williams (b. 1951) Proponent of critical race theory; law professor at Columbia UniversityWilliam F. Yardley (1844–1924)Lewis Laska, William F. Yardley. Retrieved: April 5, 2011. Anti-segregation advocate; first African American candidate for governor of Tennessee (1876)
Others
Robert Sengstacke Abbott, lawyer, newspaper publisher, editor Raymond Pace Alexander, lawyer, politician, civil rights activist Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, lawyer Anita L. Allen, lawyer, professor Helen Elsie Austin, lawyer Ferdinand Lee Barnett, lawyer, journalist Tom Bradley, lawyer, politician Roland Burris, lawyer, politician Eunice Carter, lawyer William Calvin Chase, lawyer, newspaper editor Julius L. Chambers, lawyer, civil rights activist, educator Laura Coates, attorney, law professor William Thaddeus Coleman Jr., lawyer, politician Mo Cowan, lawyer, politician Artur Davis, lawyer, politician Gordon Davis, lawyer James Dean, lawyer, activist, businessperson, deacon, first African-American appointed as a judge in Florida Elaine Denniston, lawyer, supported the Apollo program as a keypunch operator Carl E. Douglas, lawyer B. Kwaku Duren, lawyer, educator, writer, editor Larry Elder, lawyer, author, radio show host Keith Ellison, lawyer, politician Karen Freeman-Wilson, lawyer, judge Walter A. Gordon, lawyer Fred Gray, civil rights lawyer Al Green, lawyer, politician A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., lawyer, author, civil rights advocate, federal court judge Anita Hill, lawyer, academic Curtis Hill, lawyer, prosecutor Eric Holder, lawyer, 82nd United States Attorney General Sunny Hostin (African American father), lawyer Benjamin Hooks, lawyer, minister, civil rights activist Ketanji Brown Jackson, lawyer, judge, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Valerie Jarrett, lawyer, businesswoman, government official Jeh Johnson, lawyer, government official Eddie Jordan, lawyer Vernon Jordan, lawyer, business executive, civil rights activist Florynce Kennedy, lawyer, civil rights advocate Leondra Kruger, lawyer Reginald Lewis, lawyer, businessman William H. Lewis, lawyer Lori Lightfoot, lawyer, politician Loretta Lynch, lawyer, 83rd United States Attorney General Conrad Lynn, lawyer, civil rights activist Thurgood Marshall, lawyer, judge, former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall Jr., lawyer Robert Morris, lawyer Constance Baker Motley, lawyer, judge, politician, civil rights activist Pauli Murray, lawyer, author, priest, civil rights activist Ronald Noble, lawyer Deval Patrick, lawyer, author, businessman, politician Terri Sewell, lawyer, politician Bryan Stevenson, lawyer, professor Clarence Thomas, lawyer, judge, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Jordan A. Thomas, lawyer, writer Larry Thompson, lawyer Samuel Wilbert Tucker, lawyer Mel Watt, lawyer, politician Tony West, lawyer
Judicial officers This is a dynamic list of African Americans who are or were judges, magistrate judges, court commissioners, or administrative law judges. If known, it will be listed if a judge has served on multiple courts.