This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Utah. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are men who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
Firsts in Utah's history Lawyers
First African American male: Lawrence Marsh (1909) First Japanese American male: Yoshio Katayama (1946) First Native American males admitted to the Utah State Bar: Thomas G. Nelford and Larry Echo Hawk (1973) First Hispanic American males admitted to the Utah State Bar: Melvin H. Martinez (1975), Armando R. Ibañez (1975), and Michael N. Martinez (1976).Other sources may consider Michael N. Martinez Utah's first Hispanic male lawyer, as Melvin H. Martinez and Armando R. Ibañez (both of whom were admitted on September 29, 1975) left the state not long after admittance for other opportunities. Martinez was the first minority male to sit on the Utah State Bar Commission. First Tongan American male: Phil Uipi (1986)
State judges
First Asian American male (Japanese descent): Raymond Uno (1959) First African American male: Tyrone Medley (1977) in 1984 First Native American (Pomo) male: William A. Thorne Jr. (1977) in 1986Upon Thorne's appointment as a Judge of the Third Circuit Court in 1986 First Hispanic American male: Andrew Valdez (1977) in 1993 First Chinese American male: Michael Kwan in 1998State Railroad Museum, C. (2023, April 28). Event celebrates Chinese culture, contributions to westward expansion. Mountain Democrat (Placerville, CA). Available from NewsBank: Access World News: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/1913414548AE6980 . First Native American (Pomo) male (Utah Court of Appeals): William A. Thorne Jr. (1977) in 2000 First Greek American male (Utah Supreme Court): Deno Himonas in 2015
Federal judges First Hispanic American male (U.S. District Court for the District of Utah): Samuel Alba (1980)Alba is also considered the first Hispanic American male state and federal judge in Utah's history.
Attorney General of Utah
First Asian American male (Filipino descent): Sean Reyes (1997) in 2013
Assistant Attorney General
First African American male: Henry Lee Adams
State Bar of Utah
First minority male (who is of Latino descent) elected to the Utah State Bar Commission: C. Dane Nolan c. 2001 First minority male (who is of Asian descent) president: Augustus Chin in 2006
Firsts in local history Joseph Greco: First male lawyer of Italian descent in Carbon County, Utah Henry Lee Adams: First African American male to graduate from the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law (1959) [Salt Lake County, Utah] Robert Archuleta: First Latino American male to graduate from the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law (1974) [Salt Lake County, Utah] Keith N. Hamilton: First African American male to graduate from the J. Reuben Clark Law School of Brigham Young University [Utah County, Utah]
See also
List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
Other topics of interest
List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States List of first women lawyers and judges in Utah
References