In Honor Of The Women Who Have Made History In Law

This year’s theme for National Women’s History Month is: Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced. As a woman-owned law firm in the state of Georgia, I want to give a special shout-out to our state’s very own Stacey Abrams. Abrams focuses on voting rights and made an enormous contribution to the most recent presidential election. I am also highlighting Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Myra Bradwell, both of whom have made enormous contributions to women and society in general.

A debt of gratitude is owed to these three women and countless other women in every field throughout history who has fought in any way for the right to be treated fairly and equitably. For the right to pursue any endeavor and to be viewed and treated fairly and equitably. The women who have pursued and excelled in the legal profession and have made strides for every person are my heroines. I am filled with gratitude to all the amazing women who did not take “no” for an answer and who put in the effort to overcome enormous challenges to make life better not just for women, but for women and men of color, gender, and equality rights.

Stacey Abrams is a political leader, voting rights activist, and New York Times, bestselling author. After serving for eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as Democratic Leader, in 2018, Abrams became the Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia, winning at the time more votes than any other Democrat in the state’s history. Abrams was the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States, and she was the first black woman and first Georgian to deliver a Response to the State of the Union. After witnessing the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election by the Secretary of State’s office, Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every American has a voice in our election system through programs such as Fair Fight 2020, an initiative to fund and train voter protection teams in 20 battleground states. Over the course of her career, Abrams has founded multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at both the state and national levels. In 2019, she launched Fair Count to ensure accuracy in the 2020 Census and greater participation in civic engagement, and the Southern Economic Advancement Project, a public policy initiative to broaden economic power and build equity in the South.

Myra Bradwell

Born in 1831, Myra Bradwell was a publisher and political activist who tried to become the first woman admitted to the Illinois bar. She was denied admission by the Illinois Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite the roadblocks she encountered from the legal establishment, Bradwell became an influential voice in changing laws limiting the rights of women to own property and a myriad of other social concerns. The Illinois Supreme Court finally granted her law license in Illinois in 1890; the United States Supreme Court followed suit two years later, shortly before Bradwell’s death from cancer.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The second female ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legal career is remarkable. She started at Harvard before transferring to Columbia Law School, where she graduated in a tie for first in her class. After law school, Ginsburg focused on academia, teaching civil procedure at Rutgers School of Law and Columbia Law School.

Outside the classroom, Ginsburg spent a substantial part of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women’s rights. She won numerous victories arguing before the Supreme Court, volunteering as a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in the 1970’s. President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980, where she served until her appointment to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993. 

The extraordinary challenges these women have faced, both outright and implicit, in their efforts to shatter the glass ceiling, have been rivaled only by their capabilities. They, along with the countless unlisted women whose contributions paved the way for generations to come, serve as shining examples of the tenacity, endurance, and professional prowess exhibited by women in law for decades.

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