List of first women lawyers and judges in New York

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in New York. 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 state history

Lawyers

Kate Stoneman (1886): First female lawyer in New York Rosalie Loew Whitney (1895): First Jewish American female lawyer in New York Helen Z.M. Rodgers (1899): First female lawyer to try a case before the New York State Court of Appeals Georgia Hare (c. 1910): First female lawyer registered with the New York State Bar Association Ruth Whitehead Whaley (1924): First African American female lawyer in New York Tsuneko Tokuyasu (1950):"Nisei Girl Lives Her Dream" (October 1950). The Brooklyn Eagle. Reputed to be the first Japanese American female lawyer in New York Irma Vidal Santaella (1961): First Puerto Rican American female lawyer in New York Judith Lewis Meggesto (c. 1970s): First Native American (Onondaga people) female lawyer in New York Loida Nicholas Lewis (1974): First Asian American female to pass the New York State Bar exam Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix: First Caribbean-born (female) to serve as corporation counsel in New York Machaille Hassan Al Naimi (2013): First Qatari female admitted to the New York State Bar Kuenley Lhaden Gyaltshen (2025): First Bhutanese female to pass the New York State Bar exam

State judges

Jean H. Norris: First female magistrate in New York (1919) Rebekah Bettelheim Kohut: First female judge on the Jewish Court of Arbitration in New York City (1927) Justine W. Polier: First female judge in New York (1936) Jane Bolin (1932): First African American female judge in New York (1939) Dorothy Chin Brandt (1975): First Asian-American elected official in New York; First Asian-American (Chinese-American) female judge in New York (1987). Marilyn Shafer: First openly lesbian judge in New York (1993) Faviola Soto (1979): First Dominican American (female) elected as a judge in New York (1994) and serve on the New York Court of Claims Margareth Jourdan: First Haitian American (female) judge in New York (2001) Wavny Toussaint: First Trinidadian American (female) elected as a judge in New York (upon being elected to the New York City Civil Court of Kings County in 2002) Toko Serita: First Japanese American female judge in New York (2005) Margarita Lopez-Torres: First Latino American (female) to serve as a Surrogate in New York State (2006) Betty Calvo-Torres: First Latino American (female) elected as a judge in Buffalo, New York (2007) Carmen Velasquez: First Ecuadorian American (female) elected as a judge in New York (2009) Mojgan Lanman: First Iranian American (female) elected as a judge in New York (2014) Raja Rajeswari (1999): First Indian American and South Asian female judge in New York (2015) Karen Gopee: First Indo-Caribbean (female) appointed as a judge by a New York mayor (2015) Kathryn S. Paek (1997): First Korean American female appointed judge in New York (2015) Dweynie Esther Paul: First Haitian American (female) elected as a civil court judge in New York (2015) Judy Kim (1989): First Korean American female elected judge in New York (2016) Rachel Freier (2006): First Hasidic Jewish American female judge in New York (2017) Connie Mallafre Melendez (1987): First Cuban American female elected as a judge in New York (2017) Lillian Wan (2000): First Asian American female to become a Judge of the New York Court of Claims (2018) Soma Syed: First Bangladeshi American and Muslim female elected as a judge in New York (upon becoming a judge in New York City's Queens County in 2021) Edit Shkreli: First Albanian American (female) judge in New York (2023) Norma Jennings: First African American lesbian civil court judge in New York (2025)

Supreme Court

Birdie Amsterdam (1922): First female to become a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court (the state's highest trial court) (1959) Betty Weinberg Ellerin (1952): First female appointed as an Associate Justice of the New York State Supreme Court (1985) Myriam Altman: Co-First female Justice appointed to Commercial Pilot Parts in New York State Supreme Court, New York County (1993) Beatrice Shainswit: Co-First female Justice appointed to Commercial Pilot Parts in New York State Supreme Court, New York County (1993) Carolyn E. Demarest: First female Justice appointed to New York Supreme Court Commercial Division, Brooklyn, Kings County (2002) Elizabeth Hazlitt Emerson: First female Justice appointed to New York Supreme Court Commercial Division, Suffolk County (2002) Deborah H. Karalunas: First female Justice appointed to New York Supreme Court Commercial Division, Onandaga County (2007) Mary Johnson Lowe (1955): First African American female elected to the New York State Supreme Court (1977) Irma Vidal Santaella (1961): First Puerto Rican American female appointed as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court (1983) Marcy Kahn (1975): First openly LGBT female appointed as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court (1994) Doris Ling-Cohan (1979): First Asian American female elected to the New York State Supreme Court (2002) Diccia Pineda-Kirwan: First Hispanic American female to be elected to the New York State Supreme Court (2009) Carmen Velasquez: First Ecuadorian American (female) to serve as a Judge for the Civil Court and Supreme Court of the State of New York (2015) Janet C. Malone: First Black female to serve as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Ninth Judicial District (2017) Karen Gopee: First Indo-Caribbean (female) appointed as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court (2021)

Supreme Court, Appellate Division (By Department)

Betty Weinberg Ellerin (1952): First female appointed as the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, First Department (1999) Rosalyn Richter (1979): First openly LGBT female appointed as a Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, First Department (2009) Dianne Renwick (1986): First African American female appointed as a Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, First Department (2008) Sallie Manzanet-Daniels: First Hispanic American female Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department (2009) Bianka Perez: First Dominican American (female) to serve as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department (2023) Geraldine T. Eiber: First female appointed as a Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, Second Department (1984) Sandra L. Townes: First African American female appointed as a Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, Second Department (2001) A. Gail Prudenti: First female appointed as the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, Second Department (2002) Betsy Barros: First Hispanic American female appointed as a Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, Second Department (2014) Karen K. Peters: First female elected as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Third Department (1992). She later became the first female to become the Presiding Justice of the Third Department (2012). Ann T. Mikoll: First female appointed as a Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, Third Department (1977) Elizabeth A. Garry: First openly LGBT female appointed as a Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, Third Department (2009) M. Dolores Denman: First female appointed as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, Fourth Department (1977). She later became the first female to serve as the Presiding Justice of the Fourth Department (1991). Rose Sconiers: First female (and African American female) appointed as a Justice of the Appellate Division, New York State Supreme Court, Fourth Department (2010) Ann C. Crowell: First female appointed as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Fourth Judicial District (2011) Christina Ryba: First African African female appointed as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District (2015) Grace Hanlon: First openly LGBT female appointed as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Eighth Judicial District (2022)

Appellate Court

Judith Kaye (1963): First female to serve on the New York State Court of Appeals (1984) and serve as its Chief Judge (1993) Carmen Ciparick (1967): First Hispanic American female (and Hispanic in general) to serve on the New York State Court of Appeals (1993) Victoria A. Graffeo: First Italian American female to serve as a Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals (2000) Sheila Abdus-Salaam (1977): First African American female appointed as an Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals (2013) Doris Ling-Cohan (1979): First Asian American female to become an appellate judge in New York State (2014) and sit on the Appellate Term (2014) Jenny Rivera (1985): First Hispanic American female to serve on the New York State Court of Appeals without having had a prior judgeship (2013) Madeline Singas: First Greek American female to serve as a Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals (2021)

Chief Administrator

Ann Pfau: First female to serve as the Chief Administrative Judge of the State of New York (2007) Betty Weinberg Ellerin: First female to serve as the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge of the State of New York (1982) Fern Fisher: First African American female to serve as the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge of the State of New York (2009)

Federal judges Amalya Lyle Kearse (c. 1960s): First African American female to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1979) Sonia Sotomayor (1980): First Hispanic female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (1992) Marilyn Go: First Asian American female to serve as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (1993) Deborah Batts (1972): First openly LGBT / African American female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (1994) Dora Irizarry (1979): First Hispanic female to serve on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (2004) Alison J. Nathan (2000): First openly LGBT female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2011) Lorna G. Schofield (1981): First Filipino American female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2012) Thérèse Wiley Dancks: First female to serve as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of New York (2012) Elizabeth A. Wolford (1992): First woman to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York (2013). She became the first female Chief Judge in 2021. Pamela K. Chen (1986): First openly LGBT / Asian American female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (2013) Peggy Kuo: First Taiwanese American (female) to serve as a Judge of the Eastern District of New York (2015) Ona Wang: First Asian American female (and Asian American in general) to serve as the U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York (2019) Margo Kitsy Brodie: First African American (female) to serve as the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (2021) Valerie Figueredo: First Latino American female to serve as the U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York (2022) Brenda K. Sannes: First female to serve as the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York (2022) Nusrat Choudhury: First Muslim American female and Bangladeshi American [female] to serve as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (2023)