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David Rivera
We are part of a noble profession, called to excellence, honor, morality, and justice. That may sound a bit stuffy, but I believe it to be true, even if we sometimes miss the mark. One such miss is gender parity in our legal profession and in our legal system. Equality may be consistent with our profession's idealistic goals, but women still labor to narrow the gender gap.
As we enter Women's History Month, this article briefly examines some significant points in the evolution of women's rights, the history of women in the legal profession, and quickly touches on some gains that have been made.
The first women's rights convention in the U.S was held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. It generated a national debate by advancing the equal treatment of women under the laws generally, but specifically in education, employment, and women's suffrage. Resolutions on these fronts were compiled in the Declaration of Sentiments, which was signed at the end of the convention by over 100 attendees, including 32 men.
Twenty-one years later, in 1869, by the time a new generation of men had attained voting age, Wyoming passed the first women's suffrage law. Utah followed suit in 1870, Colorado in 1893, Idaho in 1896, and Washington in 1910. As early as 1870, the chief justice of Wyoming interpreted the territory's suffrage law to include the right to serve on a jury.
The year 1869 also saw the U.S.' first female lawyer in Arabella Mansfield. Mansfield sat for and passed the Iowa bar exam, notwithstanding a state law disallowing women examinees. Iowa amended its licensing statute and became the first state to admit women and minorities to the bar.
In 1872, Susan B. Anthony cast a vote in that year's presidential election in Rochester, New York as a test of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Anthony argued that the amendment gave her the right to vote as a U.S. citizen. She was arrested, tried, convicted by directed verdict, and fined. Though she refused to pay the fine, her case did not proceed further.
In 1878, Clara Shortridge Foltz, by way of an interesting path, became the first female lawyer admitted to the California bar. Earlier that year, Foltz began reading law books with an eye toward making a better living. She discovered there were only two prerequisites for admission to the state bar. An applicant must be: (1) “any white male citizen” at least twenty-one years of age and of good moral character, (2) who possesses sufficient ability and learning.
Foltz, with the help of fellow suffragist Laura de Force Gordon, drafted the Woman Lawyer's Bill, replacing the state code's provision of “any white male citizen” with “any citizen or person.” After initially failing in the state assembly, the bill was reconsidered and passed by a two-vote margin. Foltz then surreptitiously entered the governor's office and convinced him to sign the bill just prior to end-of-session.
On September 5, 1878, Foltz was admitted to the California State Bar after she passed its three-hour oral bar exam. She joined California's ranks of attorneys by the grace of her own legislative work, the Woman Lawyer's Bill.
Notwithstanding Foltz's success, she and other women attorneys continued to face substantial hurdles in California. Foltz, a licensed but self-taught attorney, sought a formal education at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. She was denied admission based on her gender despite her professional credential. Foltz sued Hastings, eventually arguing and winning her case before the California Supreme Court.
In 1911, decades after Foltz's notable successes, women's suffrage finally passed in California. In 1917, California opened the jury box to women even though they had been arguing cases to juries for nearly forty years. In 1920, nearly three-quarters of a century after the Seneca Falls Convention and fourteen years after Anthony's death, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was certified, guaranteeing women's right to vote.
Fast-forward several decades. In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. In 1995, Roberta Cooper Ramo became the first woman to serve as ABA president.
Closer to home, Sandra Carr became the first female to serve as Barristers president in 1978. Janet Wall Williams served as RCBA's first female president in 1985.
As for statistics, the growth of our women's attorney population is encouraging, but it must continue to improve. Women accounted for less than 5% of U.S. attorneys from 1950 to 1970, but grew to 38% in 2022. By way of comparison, California's women attorney population was 44% in 2022. Women comprise 47% of law firm associates, but that percentage decreases significantly when we examine the higher hierarchical ranks. A mere 22% of equity partners are women. Only 12% are managing partners.
Though women have gained rights on several fronts—including in education, employment, and suffrage—and have progressed in the ranks of our attorneys and in the roles they serve, we must continue to be mindful of parity and promote the progress of women in our legal profession and our legal system.
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Contact me directly by email at drivera@alumni.nd.edu, or by text or phone call at (909) 844-7397. If you are just discovering Barristers and would like to attend one of our events, I am more than happy to meet you at the door and introduce you to our wonderful group. Truly. I look forward to hearing from you!
David P. Rivera is a solo practitioner of business law in Highland. He is the President of the Riverside County Barristers Association, the Treasurer of the Hispanic Bar Association of the Inland Empire, the Treasurer of the Asian Pacific American Lawyers of the Inland Empire, and a member of the RCBA Bar Publications Committee.