Not too long ago, female lawyers were rare, and a woman’s job was to take care of her husband and children. Enter Myra Bradwell; she graduated from Law School in 1869. She then passed the BAR exam, but her license was denied because of her gender. However, Bradwell didn’t give up, practiced law without a license and founded the Chicago Legal News. Eventually, she was admitted, and her license was granted by the Supreme Court in 1890, “Nunc pro tunc.”
Female attorneys aren’t rare anymore – and we’re thankful for that! In fact, women in law are successful because they’re persistent and committed to winning.
Because we’re still buzzing with excitement from International Women’s Day, we thought we’d highlight some of the amazing, talented, and ambitious women in the legal realm. Fortunately, we had thousands of female attorneys to choose from, so this list only shares a few of our many favorites in no particular order.
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton is an American politician who was the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election. She has served as Secretary of State (2009-2013), Senator from New York (2001-2009), First Lady of the United States (1993-2001), First Lady of Arkansas (1979-1981 and 1983-1992), a practicing lawyer and law professor, and the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election. She has been a force to be reckoned with throughout her life, working to improve educational standards and affordable healthcare. She has also paved the way for women to stand up for their rights and to break the “glass ceiling” limiting women’s accomplishments.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Appointed by Bill Clinton in 1993, she is the second of only four women to have ever served on the Supreme Court (she was preceded by Sandra Day O’Connor, and later joined by Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan). Before becoming a Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg spent most of her legal career working on the advancement of women’s rights as a constitutional right. She was a volunteer attorney and served on the Board of Directors and as General Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren is an American politician, attorney, and professor. She is currently the Senator for Massachusetts (2012-current). She is widely known for being an advocate for consumer protection and is usually attributed to the creation of an establishment of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren has been in the news for being silenced when citing Coretta Scott King’s letter during a debate on the nomination of Jeff Sessions for a federal judgeship.
Gloria Allred
Gloria Allred is an American lawyer and an advocate for civil rights. She has represented a wide range of clients in civil rights issues from sexual harassment to employment discrimination; although she is most known for her work regarding women’s rights. She has been described by Time Magazine as being “one of the nation’s most effective advocates of family rights and feminist causes.”
Marcia Clark
Marcia Clark is an American attorney and television correspondent. She is best known as the lead prosecutor during the O.J. Simpson murder trial. After the Simpson trial, she resigned as a prosecutor, wrote a book about the case, and penned a few crime fiction novels as well. She is occasionally a guest correspondent on television news about famous trials, covering cases such as Casey Anthony’s murder trial for Headline News and the George Zimmerman trial for CNN.