List of first women lawyers and judges in Montana

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Montana. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Law School

 * First female law graduate: Edna Rankin McKinnon (1919)

Lawyers

 * First female: Ella Knowles Haskell (1888)
 * First Native American (Crow Nation) female: Mary Frances Garrigus (c. 1918)

Law Clerk

 * First female to clerk for a Supreme Court of Montana justice: Betty Ann Sias (1945)

State judges

 * First female (Thirteenth Judicial District): Diane Barz (1968) in 1978
 * First Native American (Navajo) female elected (justice court): Joey Jayne
 * First female (Montana Supreme Court): Diane Barz (1968) in 1989
 * First female (youngest): Shannen Rossmiller in 2000
 * First female (Chief Justice; Montana Supreme Court): Karla M. Gray (1976) in 2000
 * First female (Twelfth Judicial District): Kaydee Snipes Ruiz (2011) in 2019

Federal judges

 * First female (federal magistrate): Carolyn Ostby (1981) in 2002
 * First female (U.S. District Court of Montana): Susan P. Watters (1988) in 2014

Assistant Attorney General

 * First female: Ella Knowles Haskell (1888) in 1893

United States Attorney

 * First female: Doris Swords Poppler (1948) in 1990

County Attorney

 * First female: Emily E. Sloan (1919) in 1924

State Bar of Montana

 * First female admitted: Edna Rankin McKinnon (1919)
 * First female president: Sherry Scheel Matteucci

Firsts in local history

 * Karen Townsend: First female elected as a Judge of the Fourth Judicial District (2011) [ Missoula and Mineral Counties, Montana]
 * Kitty Curtis: First female judge in Flathead County, Montana (1994)
 * Deborah Kim Christopher: First female to serve as the Lake County Attorney, Montana (1991)
 * Jennifer Boatwright-Lint: First female to serve as a district court judge in Ravalli County, Montana (2018)

Other topics of interest

 * List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
 * List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Montana