Henrietta Haynie Maddox became the first woman licensed to practice law in Maryland in 1902. She also wrote the first Maryland suffrage bill, which was introduced to the General Assembly in February of 1910.
Rose Zetzer was the first woman to be admitted to the Maryland bar, in 1946. Her first attempt to join the bar was in 1927, but she was repeatedly rejected due to her gender; she was finally admitted to the bar over 20 years after she started practicing law. She was also the founder of Maryland's first all-female law firm.
Jane Cleo Marshall Lucas was the first African-American woman to be admitted to practice law in Maryland, in 1946. However, she decided to become an educator instead, so she is not the first African-American woman to practice law in Maryland.
Juanita Elizabeth Jackson Mitchell was the first African-American woman to practice law in Maryland. She was the first woman to graduate from the University of Maryland School of Law and started practicing in 1950.
| Judge Kathryn J. DuFour |
Kathryn DuFour was the first female judge in the Maryland circuit courts; she was appointed in 1955. She also became the first female chief judge of the Maryland Sixth Judicial Circuit in 1967. |
| Judge Rita Davidson |
Maryland lawyer Rita Davidson's life was a series of firsts in her state; among them were: the first woman to be appointed appellate judge, the first to be elected judge of the court of special appeals, and the first to sit on the state's highest judicial body—the Maryland Court of Appeals. |
| Judge Shirley Brannock Jones |
An alum of the University of Baltimore ('46), Shirley Brannock Jones was the first female assistant attorney general of Maryland, appointed in 1958. She was also the first female judge of the US District Court for the District of Maryland, nominated and confirmed in 1979. |
| Judge Mabel Houze Hubbard | In 1981, Mabel Hubbard became the first African-American woman to be appointed as a judge in Maryland. She was first appointed as a judge for the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City, and was subsequently appointed as a judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City in 1985. |
| Judge Audrey J.S. Carrión | Audrey Carrión was the first Hispanic judge in Maryland; she was appointed to the bench for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City in 1995. |
