This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in the U.S. state of Washington. 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 Washington's history

Lawyers

First female: Mary Leonard (1885) First Jewish American female: Bella Weretnikow Rosenbaum (1901) First Filipino American female: Dolores Sibonga (1973) First female quadriplegic: Holly Caudill (1995)

List of first women lawyers and judges in Washington

Law Clerks

First female to clerk for the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division III: Victoria L. Vreeland First female to clerk for the Supreme Court of Washington: Susan Carlson in 2016

List of first women lawyers and judges in Washington

State judges

First female (justice of the peace): Mildred Henthorn Hamill in 1911

First female: Reah Whitehead (1893)in 1914

First Latino American female: Carmen Otero in 1980

First female (Washington Supreme Court): Carolyn R. Dimmick (1953) in 1981

First African American female (municipal court): Norma S. Huggins in 1983

First African American female (superior court): Norma S. Huggins in 1988

First Asian American female: C. Kimi Kondo in 1991

First female (Chief Justice; Washington Supreme Court): Barbara Durham in 1995

First Korean American (female): Mariane Spearman in 1999

First Iranian American (female): Susan Amini in 2013

First Asian American, Latino American, and openly lesbian (female) (Washington Supreme Court): Mary Yu (1993) in 2014 First (African American) openly lesbian female (superior court): Helen Whitener (1998) in 2015 First (African American) openly lesbian female (Washington Supreme Court): Helen Whitener (1998) in 2020 First Native American (Pueblo of Isleta/Pueblo of Laguna) (female) (Washington Supreme Court): Raquel Montoya-Lewis in 2020 First South Asian female: Kuljinder Dhillon in 2021

List of first women lawyers and judges in Washington

Federal judges

First female (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington): Rosanna M. Peterson (1991) First Asian American (female) (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington): Tana Lin in 2021 First Native American (female) (United States District Court for the Western District of Washington): Lauren J. King in 2021

Attorney General of Washington

First female: Christine Gregoire (1977) from 1993-2004

Assistant Attorney General

First female: June Fowles in 1939

Deputy Attorney General

First female: Christine Gregoire (1977) in 1981

United States Attorney

Jenny Durkan (1986): First openly LGBT female appointed as a U.S. Attorney in Washington (2009) Vanessa Waldref: First female to serve as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington (2021)

Assistant United States Attorney

Holly Caudill: First female quadriplegic to work as an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington (1995)

Political Office

First female (Washington State Senate): Reba Hurn (1910) from 1923-1930

Jenny Durkan (1986): First openly LGBT female (a lawyer) elected as the Mayor of Seattle, Washington (2017) Laurie Jinkins (1990): First openly LGBT female (a lawyer) elected as a Member of the Washington House of Representatives from the Twenty-Seventh District (2011)