Women in Law

Dora Gan, Year 11, Wu House

Traditionally, law was a profession for men. Today, although women are more prevalent in the field, the male to female ratio is still incredibly tilted in the men ’ s direction -- as of 2019, 64% of lawyers are male while only 36% are female. This article seeks to highlight and celebrate some of the “firsts ” for women in law, including Hortensia, the first female lawyer, Arabella Mansfield, the first female American lawyer, Charlotte E ray, first female African-American lawyer, and Soumay Tcheng, the first Chinese female lawyer.

Hortensia The first woman in recorded history to practise law was Hortensia, the daughter of Roman consul and advocate, Quintus Hortensisu Hortalus. In 42 B.C., triumvirs OttavianAntonius-Lepidus (Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilus Lepidus), imposed a strong tax law on the matrons. This law would have generated revenue for the treasury and put a stop on the luxury that the matrons were enjoying. Aware of Hortensia ’ s legal background and her oratory skills, the displeased women instructed Hortensia to plead their case, most likely because other men would have supported this law.

Hortensia argued that since women were denied access to power in the magistrature, they should not be obliged to pay the fees. Because of her speech, only 400 women were taxed (out of the original 1400).

Although the goal of this case seems to be centred around privilege and entitlement as the women only wanted to continue living their lavish lifestyle, Hortenisa ’ s role in the case is still the first time that a woman has acted upon the role of a lawyer in Roman History.

Arabella Mansfield Arabella Mansfield was born in 1846 with the name Belle Aurelia Babb. She was an activist for women ' s rights as well as the first ever female American lawyer, which made her an inspiration to many. She had studied for the bar (the procedure that governs the authorisation of attorneys to practise law before the state and federal courts) for two years in her brother ’ s law office and was then admitted in 1869. At the time, Iowa had a state law which limited the bar to white men over the age of twenty one, so Mansfield had to take her case to a judge. Judge Francis Springer was an advocate for women ’ s rights, so he interpreted the word “ men ” in the Iowa law to mean all people. By setting a precedent to become a lawyer for other women, Mansfield helped break down the barrier for women in the legal profession; within a year, Iowa Charlotte E Ray To be the first female lawyer to practise law in Washington D.C is a great achievement in itself, but Charlotte E Ray was also the first female African-American lawyer in the United States. She attended Myrtilla Miner ’ s Institution for the Education of Colored Youth in Washington D.C, one of the few schools that educated African American girls at that time. When applying for the bar, she used the name “C.E. Ray ” so the Columbia bar, who was reluctant to admit women at that time, wouldn ’t realise that she was a woman.

Ray opened a law office in 1872, specialising in commercial law. However, Ray suffered immense race and gender discrimination, leading her to close her office and return to New York, where she worked as a teacher. Nonetheless, Ray still can be considered a key player in the subverting of legalistic workplace norms, showing the courage to introduce herself, as a black woman, into the legalistic sphere.

Zhèng Yùxiù/Madame Wei Tao-ming/Soumay Tcheng A woman who frequently defied gender stereotypes and traditions, Soumay Tcheng was the first female lawyer in China. There are many variations of her name, including Somay Tcheng, Zhèng Yùxiù, Tcheng Yu-hsiu, but she is mostly known by her married name: Madame Wei Tao-ming. Tcheng was born in Shenzhen in 1891, a time where gender roles were strictly enforced in China. She refused to bind her feet like other young Chinese, wrote to her fiance to dissolve her arranged marriage, and ran away from home to study in Japan. She moved to Paris in 1914 (living there through World War I) and studied law from the University of Paris before returning to China in 1926 with her husband Wei Tao-ming.

To further prove how Tcheng’ s strong and unyielding nature, there is an alleged story of how she threatened to shoot a Chinese official. In the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Chinese delegation was about to concede former German territory in China to the Japanese. This greatly angered the Chinese in France, who sent Tcheng to stop this deal. Later, when the head of the Chinese delegation was taking a walk, Tcheng appeared with what seemed to be a gun up her sleeve and threatened to shoot him if he ever signed that agreement. In actuality, the “gun ” was just a rose bush but nevertheless, the Chinese delegation ended up not signing the agreement.

Upon returning to Shanghai, she established a legal practice with her husband. She became famous through handling the divorce between two famous Opera Stars and then became a judge in Shanghai’ s French Concession Court. She continued

using her voice to advocate for women ’ s rights in China and later on, she even became the President of the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. In 1944, her autobiography “My Revolutionary Years ” was published.

Conclusion In a profession still dominated by men, it is important to recognize the trailblazing women who opened up the doors for women in law and became an inspiration to many. Hopefully, more and more women will want to pursue law in the future, creating a more diversely represented workforce.