List of first women lawyers and judges in West Virginia

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

Lawyer

First female: Agnes Westbrook Morrison (1895)

State judges

First female: Elizabeth Hallanan (1951) in 1959
First African American female (circuit court): Irene Berger (1979) in 1994
First female (Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals): Stephanie Thacker (1990)

Federal judges

First female (U.S. Magistrate Judge): Mary Stanley in 1992
First African American female (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia): Irene Berger (1979) in 2009
First female (Chief Judge for Bankruptcy Court; U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia): B. McKay Mignault in 2022

Assistant United States Attorney

First female: Mary Stanley around 1977
First female (Northern District of West Virginia): Betsy C. Jividen in 2009

Deputy Attorney General

First female: Marianne Stonestreet

Assistant Attorney General

First female: Virginia Mae Brown (1947) from 1952 to 1961

West Virginia State Bar Association

First female (president): Barbara Baxter from 1994 to 1995
First African American female (president): Meshea Poore in 2017

West Virginia Judicial Association

First female (president): Jennifer Bailey in 2022

Firsts in local history

Theresa Cogar Turner: First female to become a Judge of the Family Court Judge for Lewis, Braxton, and Upshur Counties, West Virginia (2016)
Kathi McBee: First female magistrate in Barbour County, West Virginia (1996)
Janet Steele (1977): First female judge in Fayette County, West Virginia
Alice Johnson McChesney (1922): First female lawyer in Charleston, West Virginia
Elizabeth Aileen Hatfield (1933): First female lawyer in Logan County, West Virginia
Rhonda Wade: First female prosecutor in Marshall County, West Virginia
Marye L. Wright: First African American male to graduate from the West Virginia University College of Law (1976)
Kristina “Kris” Raynes: First female prosecutor in Putnam County, West Virginia (2023)

References

"History | College of Law | West Virginia University". www.law.wvu.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
"Obituaries in the News (TechNews.com)". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
Bowman, Forest J. (2007). "THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA" (PDF). West Virginia Law Review. 109: 795–803. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
^ Jones, Associated Press; Carrie Jones; Will. "Judge Irene Berger Talks About Her Senate Confirmation". Retrieved 2018-01-09.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "History of Women's History Month" (PDF). U.S. District Court - Southern District of West Virginia. March 31, 2016.
Fallon, Paul. "W.Va. woman sworn in as federal judge". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
^ "W.Va.'s first female U.S. magistrate judge retiring". The Journal. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
"B. McKay Mignault sworn in as first female chief bankruptcy judge for Southern West Virginia". WV News. 16 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
"U.S. Attorney's Office - U.S. Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
The West Virginia Lawyer. West Virginia State Bar. 1989.
Cook, Joan (27 February 1991). "Virginia Mae Brown Dies at 67; First Woman to Head the I.C.C." The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
Agencies, United States Congress House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related (1996). Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1997: Justification of the budget estimates, Department of Commerce. U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160527753.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
"Poore takes over as West Virginia State Bar Association president". Herald-Mail Media. Associated Press. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
Pierson, Lacie (15 January 2022). "Kanawha's Bailey becomes first woman to lead state Judicial Association". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
"Family Court Judge Sets Example For Women". The Weston Democrat. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
Staff Reports (20 August 2018). "Longtime Barbour Co. magistrate retires; Moats names replacement". WV News. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
Pridemore, Amelia A. (March 24, 2009). "Fayette honors first female jurors". Beckley Register-Herald.
Foster, Teree E.; Fallon, Sandra M. (1994–1995). "West Virginia's Pioneer Women Lawyers". W. Va. L. Rev. 97: 703.
Plein, Stewart (Spring 2015). "The Devil's Children: The Hatfield Lawyers" (PDF). LH&RB: Newsletter of the Legal History & Rare Books SIS of the American Association of Law Libraries. 21: 1: 1, 4–7.
"WVU Today | WVU honors those 'most loyal' during Mountaineer Week". wvutoday.wvu.edu. 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
"History | College of Law | West Virginia University". www.law.wvu.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
Eaton, Taylor (2023-08-08). "First woman prosecutor appointed in Putnam County". WSAZ. Retrieved 2024-06-15.

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