That's History: First female lawyers around the world

In a profession which was historically limited to certain (and discriminative) preferences, the first female lawyers emerged as beacons of change and resilience. For challenging societal norms at that time, they opened the doors for countless others and future leaders for the years to come. Let’s know some of these trailblazers and look at the evolution of the legal profession in terms of gender and inclusion.

The first female lawyers around the world

Clara Brett Martin, called to the Ontario bar in 1897, was the first woman lawyer in Canada. But where does she stand among early women lawyers around the world?

She was at the centre of a trend, according to Osgoode Hall Law School's Mary Jane Mossman, who takes an international perspective in her book, The First Women Lawyers. Other firsts according to the book include:

• United States: Arabella Mansfield was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1869. The western states of the U.S. accepted some of the earliest women lawyers, often with little formal record-keeping, while bar associations and law schools of the eastern states kept women out longer. After Mansfield’s admission to the bar, Iowa has amended its licensing laws to allow women to become lawyers in the state.
• Britain: No women formally became English barristers or solicitors until 1921-22. But Eliza Orme had all the credentials except the formal call and effectively practised law from 1875. Orme was the first woman to earn a law degree in England, after studying at University College London. But even before this, Orme was engaged in the legal field and has been a long advocate for women’s suffrage.
• France: After earning her law degree from the Faculty of Law of Paris, Jeanne Chauvin was fully qualified by 1890. However, she was prevented from taking the avocat's oath until 1900. This was after a bill was passed that allowed women to be admitted to the bar. She, along with Olga Petit, were among the first female lawyers in France at that time.
• New Zealand: As the first female lawyer in New Zealand, Ethel Benjamin got her LLB degree from the University of Otago despite not knowing whether she’ll be allowed to practise after studying law. Eventually, she was called to the bar in 1897 but was even then largely isolated by her colleagues despite her acknowledged skills. Still, Benjamin continued her legal career as a solicitor and in her private practise.
• Italy: Lidia Poët had the qualifications by 1883 and practised law from 1885. But Italian women were denied formal access to the profession, which eventually led to her disbarment in 1883. This did not stop Poët, who continued her limited legal work with her brother. It was not until after the First World War that women were allowed to be admitted to the bar when Law 1176 of 1919 was enacted. Poët was 65 when she was able to re-register again as a lawyer.
• India: Cornelia Sorabji, a Parsee, defended a murder charge in the Indian courts in 1896, but was denied full legal credentials on a variety of technicalities all her life. It was only in 1923 where the law was passed to allow women to practise law in India. Notably, Sorabji is also the first woman to graduate from the University of Bombay and first woman to study law at the Oxford University. Throughout her life, she was a legal advocate for women and children and of India’s social reform.

Hear more about female lawyers back in the day from Beverley McLachlin. As the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, her rise to the top was not easy, but it did not stop her from conquering such heights. Learn more about her in this podcast:

Female lawyers continue to dominate the legal profession in many ways, such as becoming part of the top-ranking list of lawyers in Canada. To find out more about their work, check out the Special Reports page of Canadian Lawyer Magazine, one of our sister publications. Canadian Lawyer ranks lawyers across Canada based on different practice areas and locations.

Challenges faced by the early and first female lawyers

Looking back from the early 21st century, it's striking how closely clustered these dates for the pioneer women lawyers around the world now seem. The half century from 1870 to1920 — less than one lifetime — saw women's first access to legal careers practically everywhere in the developed world. A tide was turning.

Yet almost everywhere, the successes of the first female lawyers proved to be a false dawn. The women lawyers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were frequently isolated and denied scope to practise law. They could not also open the way for substantial numbers of women or spark a redefinition of gender roles in law. It was only in the late 20th century before the law became a profession with substantial numbers of women lawyers of today.

The emergence of the first female lawyers

Mossman's investigations underline the hazards of personality, class, and jurisdiction that determined precise dates at which women broke through the barriers in each country. In her book, she also demonstrated the ability of judges and other authorities to cherry-pick precedents to suit their prejudices against women lawyers.

Mossman is cautious about simple interpretations of the emergence of the first women lawyers, preferring shifting "kaleidoscopes" of meaning. But she suggests two key themes:

• First, women's access to the legal profession bore a tangled, but undoubted, relationship to the campaign for woman suffrage and citizenship: Some saw gaining the vote as a prelude to opening the professions. Some believed opening the professions would lead to woman suffrage. Some favoured a strategy of demanding one but not the other. But the two movements clearly ran in tandem.
• Second, the cause of women lawyers was not only about women but also about the men: In the 19th century, the nature of professions was also in flux. Professions had long been defined as the exclusive prerogative of gentlemen. Their slow reinvention into something determined by learned skills, objective testing, and certified credentials affected men as much as women — but the redefinition helped create small spaces that the first female lawyers claimed for themselves.

By the late 19th century, universities, judges, legislatures, and lawyers were all taking a hand in defining who should be lawyers. All these became either pathways or barriers to the ambitions of women.

The mid-20th century now seems the truly anomalous time: a brief era in which women became accepted as lawyers in theory but were largely kept out in practise. Mossman explores the beginning of that era. We may still need a little more distance before we understand all the nuances of how it ended.

The first female lawyers in Canada

In view of the hardships that these first female lawyers experienced, their lives are still worth reading for the modern women lawyers. As their problems may still resonate with us today, how they overcome those struggles will always be a recurring theme, whatever time periods we may be in.

First law student and lawyer in Canada

Clara Brett Martin is not just the first female to be called to the bar in Canada but is also the first female lawyer in the British Commonwealth.

But before claiming all these accolades, she faced a lot of challenges, such as simply getting into Osgoode Hall Law School. Her initial application to the Law Society of Upper Canada to become a law student was rejected. It was argued that since women are not legally considered as “persons,” the Law Society’s statute use of the word “persons” means that only men can become lawyers.

However, support came to Martin’s aid, and she was able to enter Osgoode in 1893. All thanks to the help of some prominent individuals and activists, an 1892 provincial law was passed which re-defined “persons” in the Law Society's statute. The result is that “persons” should be interpreted to include females, aside from males. With this, the Law Society has started allowing women to be admitted as solicitors.

Finally, in 1897, Martin graduated from Osgoode and was called to the bar of Ontario. She would later serve as a school trustee of the Toronto Board of Education in 1901 and for a decade as its only female member.

First female judge in Canada

Emily F. Murphy is Canada’s first female magistrate (equivalent of a provincial court judge today) in 1916, when she was appointed police magistrate for Edmonton.

This appointment stemmed from a case where members of the Edmonton Local Council of Women was denied entry to a trial of several women who were accused of prostitution. The reason for the denial was that the testimony during the trial was “not fit for mixed company.” Murphy argued before the Attorney General that if the testimony was not fit to be heard in mixed company, there should be a special court made up of women to try other women. This led to Murphy’s appointment as a magistrate to lead this court, after the higher ups agreed to her position.

Murphy’s changing the tides over the women in law continued after her appointment. Just like in Martin’s case in Ontario, Murphy and other women’s rights activists began the “Persons Case” (Edwards v. Attorney General of Canada) to redefine the term “persons” in the British North America Act. After years of fighting for this case, including an appeal from the Supreme Court’s decision, it was decided that the word “persons” do include women. As a result, women became eligible to become summoned to and members of the Senate of Canada.

First female minorities to become a lawyer in Canada

The intersection of being a woman and being a member of a minority has made it even harder for some to be called to the bar. However, history tells us that this was not impossible, as shown by the lives of the following women:

First Black Canadian female lawyer

Another important figure who achieved some of the “firsts” for women at that time is Violet Pauline King Henry — the first Black female lawyer in Canada. In February 2021, Alberta renamed its Federal Building Plaza to the Violet King Henry Plaza to commemorate Henry, who came from the province. Learn more about Henry with this video:

Canadian Lawyer’s Special Report on the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers lists some of the best female lawyers certain practice areas.

First Indigenous Canadian female lawyer

As the first Indigenous woman to earn a law degree in Canada, Roberta L. Jamieson graduated from University of Western Ontario in 1976. A member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, Jamieson’s career in the field of law is also a list of her being the many firsts:

• first non-Parliamentarian ex-officio member appointee of a special House of Commons committee on Indian self-government
• first Aboriginal Commissioner of the Indian Commission of Ontario
• first woman appointed Ontario’s Ombudsman
• first recipient of the Mary Parker Follet Award

On top of her many achievements is her work on promoting alternative dispute resolution methods.

First female lawyer of the First Nations

Marion Ironquill Meadmore, an Ojibwa-Cree, is Canada’s first female lawyer of the First Nations, who finished her law degree from the University of Manitoba in 1977. But even before her career in law and Indigenous economic development, Meadmore had already advocated for the Indigenous community in many ways. These include when she established the Indian and Métis Friendship Centre and helped form the now Assembly of First Nations.

After becoming a lawyer, Meadmore also co-founded the National Indigenous Council of Elders, which assists Indigenous businesses with their funding and handling of finances. She also appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to testify as a residential school survivor herself.

First female lawyers: setting the bar for future generations

Canada’s first female lawyers do not only serve as an inspiration for breaking barriers but are also a testament of the ever-changing landscape of the legal profession. Their lives are great evidence that with determination and courage, progress is possible when we dare to challenge the status quo. As we reflect on their past lives, we recognize that their fight has now become ours, and the struggle for equality continues to resonate today.

Check out our Features page for other inspiring stories and accounts similar to the first female lawyers — written by women lawyers themselves.