List of first women lawyers and judges in Wisconsin

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Wisconsin. 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 Wisconsin's history

Law School

First female law graduate: Belle Case La Follette (1885)

Lawyers

First females: Lavinia Goodell and Elsie B. Botensek (1875) First African American female: Mabel Watson Raimey (1927)

State judges

First female (tribal judge for the Menominee): Rhoda House in 1943

First female: Olga Bennett (1935) in 1970

First African American female: Vel Phillips in 1971

First female (Chief Judge; First Judicial District): Kitty K. Brennan (1977) First female (Wisconsin Supreme Court): Shirley Abrahamson (1962) in 1976 First openly lesbian female: Shelley Gaylord in 1993 First female (Chief Justice; Wisconsin Supreme Court): Shirley Abrahamson (1962) in 1996 First Hmong American (female): Kashoua Kristy Yang (2009) in 2017 First African American female (judge elected without being appointed by a governor): Danielle L. Shelton in 2019 First African American female (Chief Judge; Wisconsin Court of Appeals): Maxine Aldridge White in 2023

Attorney General of Wisconsin

First female: Peg Lautenschlager (1980) from 2003-2007

United States Attorney

First female (U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin): Peg Lautenschlager (1980) from 1993-2001

District Attorney

First female: Dorothy Walker (c. 1922)

Political Office

First openly lesbian female (U.S. Senate): Tammy Baldwin (1989) in 2012

State Bar of Wisconsin

First female (president): Pamela Barker

First African American (female): Michelle Behnke in 2004

Firsts in local history

Rose Patricia Ryan (1928): First female lawyer in Appleton, Wisconsin [Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago Counties, Wisconsin] Katherine Williams: First female to earn a law degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1909) Elizabeth Hawkes (1937): First female Washburn High School graduate to become a lawyer [Bayfield County, Wisconsin] Vivi L. Dilweg: First female judge in Brown County, Wisconsin Moria Krueger: First female judge in Dane County, Wisconsin Nia Trammell: First African American female to serve as a Judge in Dane County Circuit Court (2020). Lisa K. Stark: First female judge in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin (2000) Lisa Riniker: First female judge in Grant County, Wisconsin (2023) Anna Becker (1993): First female judge in Jackson County, Wisconsin (1982) Razy Geraldine Kletecka Chojnacki (1943): First female lawyer in La Crosse County, Wisconsin Kate Kane Rossi (1877): First female lawyer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin [Milwaukee County, Wisconsin] Mabel Watson Raimey (1927): First African American female lawyer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin [Milwaukee County, Wisconsin] Vel Phillips: First female judge (and African American female) in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Kitty K. Brennan (1977): First female to become Chief Judge of the First Judicial District in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Kashoua "Kristy" Yang (2009): First Hmong American female judge in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (2017) Maxine White: First African American female to serve as the Chief Judge for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (2019) Ana Berrios-Schroeder: First Latino American female to serve as a Judge in Branch 13 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court (2023) Mary Roth Burns: First female judge in Oneida County, Wisconsin (2022) Nancy Krueger (1979): First female judge in Outagamie County, Wisconsin (2007) Sandy A. Williams: First female judge in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin (2009). She also served as the first female District Attorney for Ozaukee County. Patricia Baker: First female judge in Portage County, Wisconsin (2020) Nettie Elizabeth Karcher (1915): First female lawyer in Racine County, Wisconsin Sheila Mildred Parrish-Spence: First African-American female to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in Racine County, Wisconsin (1980) Barbara McCrory: First female judge in Rock County, Wisconsin (2012) Virginia A. Wolfe: First female judge in Sauk County, Wisconsin (1988) Monica Isham: First Native American (female) judge elected in Sawyer County, Wisconsin (2023) Edith Arelisle Zufelt (1901): First female to register with the Sheboygan County Bar Association [Sheboygan County, Wisconsin]