Justice She Wrote: Celebrating Minnesota’s Women in Law

Taryn Reichow*

For the past several years, Governor Tim Walz has declared the month of March to be Women’s History Month.¹ As the month of March begins, so should a reflection of the many inspirational women who shaped history. “Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate and be inspired by the many accomplishments, struggles, and successes of inspirational women.”² The Minnesota legal community hosts a number of inspirational women that have paved the way for future women lawyers. As a part of Women’s History Month, it is a great time to look back at when Minnesota’s legal community began accepting women into the practice. And it is also an opportunity to look at what Minnesota’s legal profession looks like now and where it could be in the future.

Martha Angle Dorsett was the first woman in Minnesota to practice law.³ But she did not get into the Minnesota Bar without a struggle.⁴ Dorsett first attempted to join the Minnesota Bar in 1876, but she was denied access.⁵ At the time, the Minnesota law governing attorney admissions read that only “male person[s] of the age of twenty-one years, of good moral character, and who possesses the requisite qualifications of learning and ability, is entitled to admission to practice in all the courts of [Minnesota].”⁶ After this rejection, Dorsett spent the next year lobbying for changes to the Minnesota law to allow all applicants regardless of gender to practice in Minnesota.⁷ After Dorsett introduced three bills to the state legislature, the state legislature successfully passed a new law allowing women to practice law in the state.⁸ In January of 1878, Dorsett officially became the first female attorney in the state of Minnesota.⁹

After Dorsett opened the doors for women to join Minnesota’s legal community, more pioneering women continued to lead the state into more wonderful firsts. In 1921, Lena O. Smith became the first African American woman licensed to practice law in Minnesota.¹⁰ And after years of fighting to even practice law, Minnesota women kept fighting until they were appointed to sit as Minnesota judges and eventually justices. Betty Whitlock Washburn became the first female judge in Minnesota in 1950.¹¹ Later, in 1983, Pamela Alexander became the first African American female judge in Minnesota.¹² Rosalie Wahl became the first female to sit on the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1977.¹³ In 1998, Kathleen Blatz was the first woman to be elevated to Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.¹⁴ Justice Anne McKeig became the first Native American female to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court.¹⁵ In 2016, Justice Margaret Chutich was appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court as the first openly gay female.¹⁶ And just this last year, Chief Justice Natalie Hudson became the first African American female to serve as Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.¹⁷

All of these groundbreaking women have given hope to the young women lawyers still to come. At the start of this academic year, all three Minnesota law schools experienced some exciting enrollment numbers for future female lawyers.¹⁸ The 2026 graduating class for the University of St. Thomas School of Law has 56 percent females enrolled.¹⁹ The 2026 graduating class of the Mitchell Hamline School of Law 2026 has 61 percent females enrolled.²⁰ And the University of Minnesota School of Law broke records for its 2026 graduating class with 60 percent females enrolled.²¹ This is amazing progress for women in the legal profession who were once barred from attending law school.²²

But despite this exciting increase in female law students, women are not as well represented in the Minnesota legal profession.²³ In 2019, the Minnesota Women Lawyers Equity Committee released a gender data project to track the number of women lawyers in Minnesota.²⁴ For 2018, the committee recorded that 37 percent of lawyers registered in Minnesota were female.²⁵ This was a 2-percent increase from 2014.²⁶ The Minnesota Judicial Branch also puts out an annual report with demographic data separated into male and female groups.²⁷ In 2018, of all active lawyers in Minnesota, 40 percent were female.²⁸ In 2022, of all active lawyers in Minnesota, 42 percent were female.²⁹

Even though women are still a minority class in Minnesota’s legal profession, that does not mean there are not women making an impact in the profession.³⁰ As of 2023, women are now leading one-third of the fifteen largest law firms in the Twin Cities.³¹ Women like Gina Kastel, CEO of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath;³² Alana Bassin, managing partner at Nelson Mullins;³³ Karla Vehrs, managing partner at Ballard Spahr;³⁴ Tami Diehm, president of Winthrop & Weinstine;³⁵ Amanda Cialkowski, president of Nilan Johnson Lewis;³⁶ Heidi Carpenter, CEO of Fafinski Mark & Johnson;³⁷ and Melodie Rose, president of Fredrikson & Byron³⁸ are just a few examples of women leadership in the Twin Cities. Some of these women were the first women in the history of these Twin Cities law firms to be appointed to a leadership role.³⁹ These women serve as the new inspiration for future women lawyers to continue to grow in the Minnesota legal profession. Bassin was quoted as saying, “[W]omen in leadership truly make a difference, and it’s important we keep fighting this battle.”⁴⁰

Closing with this glimmer of improvement, this author is looking to the future with hope. Minnesota women lawyers have fought for almost a century and a half to be present in the legal community, and it is slowly but surely paying off. With the percentage of women attending law school in Minnesota reaching over 50 percent, it is a promising sign that women are making their presence known in the Minnesota legal community. And it is certainly helpful to see female leadership in Twin Cities law firms and on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Minnesota female lawyers are fighters, and they will continue to fight for a seat at the table. Happy Women’s History Month.

* Taryn Reichow, J.D. Candidate, University of St. Thomas School of Law Class of 2025 (Associate Editor).

1. See State of Minnesota Proclamation, Off. of Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (2021), https://mn.gov/governor/assets/03.01.21%20Women%27s%20History%20Month_tcm1055-470448.pdf; State of Minnesota Proclamation, Off. of Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (2022), https://mn.gov/governor/assets/03.01.22%20Women%27s%20History%20Month_tcm1055-519737.pdf; State of Minnesota Proclamation, Off. of Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (2023), https://mn.gov/governor/assets/03.01.23%20Women%27s%20History%20Month%20Signed_tcm1055-567691.pdf; State of Minnesota Proclamation, Off. of Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (2024), https://mn.gov/governor/assets/03.01.24%20Women%27s%20History%20Month_Signed_tcm1055-611585.pdf. ↩︎
2. Celebrate Women’s History Month with Twin Cities PBS, Twin Cities PBS (Feb. 28, 2023), https://www.tpt.org/post/celebrate-womens-history-month-twin-cities-pbs/. ↩︎
3. Ellen Jaquette, Before Martha Dorsett Could Become Minnesota’s First Female Attorney, She Had to Get the Law Changed, MinnPost (Sept. 3, 2019), https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2019/09/before-martha-dorsett-could-become-minnesotas-first-female-attorney-she-had-to-get-the-law-changed/. ↩︎
4. Id. ↩︎
5. Id. ↩︎
6. Id. ↩︎
7. Id. ↩︎
8. Id. ↩︎
9. Id. ↩︎
10. Smith, Lena Olive (1885–1996), MNopedia.org, https://www.mnopedia.org/person/smith-lena-olive-1885-1966 (last visited Jan. 30, 2024). ↩︎
11. Randy Furst, Minnesota’s Female Lawyers, Judges Celebrate Milestones, Star Tribune (Feb. 23, 2015, 7:16 AM), https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-s-female-lawyers-judges-celebrate-milestones/293543011/. ↩︎
12. Evan Frost, ChangeMakers: Pamela Alexander, First Black Woman Judge in MN, Sees Gaps and Opportunities, MPR News (Feb. 19, 2019, 4:00 AM), https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/02/18/changemakers-witness-of-rape-sparks-lifelong-interest-in-law-for-retired-judge-pamela-ale. ↩︎
13. Lori Sturdevant, Her Honor: Rosalie Wahl and the Minnesota Women’s Movement 112 (2014); Rosalie Wahl: Legal Educator & Minnesota Supreme Court Justice: Overview, Minn. Hist. Soc’y: Gale Fam. Libr., https://libguides.mnhs.org/wahl (last visited Jan. 30, 2024). ↩︎
14. Kathleen A. Blatz, Associate Justice, 1996–1998; Chief Justice 1998–2006, Minn. St. L. Libr., https://mncourts.libguides.com/blatz/bio (last visited Jan. 30, 2024). ↩︎
15. John Autey, Anne McKeig Sworn in as Minnesota’s First Native American Associate Supreme Court Justice, Pioneer Press (Sept. 15, 2016, 7:57 PM), https://www.twincities.com/2016/09/15/anne-mckeig-sworn-in-as-minnesotas-first-native-american-associate-supreme-court-justice/. ↩︎
16. Brian Bakst, Dayton MN Supreme Court Pick is Court’s First Openly Gay Justice, MPR News (Jan. 22, 2016, 9:27 AM), https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/01/22/dayton-pick-first-openly-gay-mn-supreme-court-judge. ↩︎
17. The Associated Press & Claretta Bellamy, Minnesota Names First Black Chief Justice of State Supreme Court, Natalie Hudson, NBC News (Aug. 23, 2023, 10:21 AM), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/minnesota-names-first-black-chief-justice-state-supreme-court-natalie-rcna101382. ↩︎
18. St. Thomas Sch. of L., Univ. of (Minn.), 2023 Standard 509 Information Report (2023), https://law.stthomas.edu/_media-library/documents/required-disclosures/standard509.pdf; Incoming Class at Mitchell Hamline Likely School’s Largest Ever, Mitchell Hamline Sch. of L. (Aug. 17, 2020), https://mitchellhamline.edu/news/2020/08/17/incoming-class-at-mitchell-hamline-likely-schools-largest-ever/; Meet Minnesota Law’s JD Class of 2026 – Breaking Records for Diversity & Academic Excellence, Univ. of Minn. L. (Sept. 18, 2023), https://law.umn.edu/news/2023-09-18-meet-minnesota-laws-jd-class-2026-breaking-records-diversity-academic-excellence. ↩︎
19. St. Thomas Sch. of L., supra note 18. ↩︎
20. Mitchell Hamline Sch. of L., supra note 18. ↩︎
21. Univ. of Minn. L., supra note 18. ↩︎
22. See History, Univ. of Minn. L., https://law.umn.edu/about/history (last visited Jan. 30, 2024) (listing Flora E. Matteson as the first woman permitted to attend law school in Minnesota in 1890). ↩︎
23. Minn. Women Laws. Equity Comm., Gender Data Project: 2019 Follow-Up Report (2019), https://cdn.ymaws.com/mwlawyers.org/resource/resmgr/equity/mwl_gender_data_project_-_20.pdf; Minn. Jud. Branch, Report to the Community: The 2018 Annual Report of the Minnesota Judicial Branch (2018), https://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/PublicationReports/2018%20Annual%20Report/2018-MJB-Annual-Report-to-the-Community.pdf [hereinafter Report to the Community 2018]; MINN. JUD. BRANCH, Report to the Community 2022 (2022), https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2023/other/231444.pdf. ↩︎
24. Minn. Women Laws. Equity Comm., supra note 23. ↩︎
25. Minn. Women Laws. Equity Comm., supra note 23, at 13. ↩︎
26. Minn. Women Laws. Equity Comm., supra note 23, at 13. ↩︎
27. Report to the Community 2018, supra note 23, at 54–55. ↩︎
28. Report to the Community 2018, supra note 23, at 54–55. ↩︎
29. Report to the Community 2022, supra note 23. ↩︎
30. See Liz Fedor, Meet the Women Leading Minnesota Law Firms, Twin Cities Bus. (Apr. 14, 2023), https://tcbmag.com/meet-the-women-leading-minnesota-law-firms/. ↩︎
31. Id. ↩︎
32. Liz Fedor, Gina Kastel to Chair Large Faegre Drinker Law Firm, Twin Cities Bus. (Nov. 17, 2022), https://tcbmag.com/gina-kastel-to-chair-large-faegre-drinker-law-firm/. ↩︎
33. Fedor, supra note 30. ↩︎
34. Fedor, supra note 30. ↩︎
35. Fedor, supra note 30. ↩︎
36. Fedor, supra note 30. ↩︎
37. Firm Names First Female Chief Executive Officer Heidi Carpenter, Fafinski Mark & Johnson, P.A., https://www.fmjlaw.com/first-female-ceo-heidi-carpenter/ (last visited Jan. 30, 2024). ↩︎
38. Fredrikson Announces New Leadership Team Led by New President, Melodie R. Rose, Fredrikson & Byron P.A. (Sept. 29, 2023), https://www.fredlaw.com/news-fredrikson-announces-new-leadership-team-led-by-new-president-melodie-r-rose. ↩︎
39. Fafinski Mark & Johnson, P.A., supra note 39; Fredrikson & Byron P.A., supra note 40. ↩︎
40. Fedor, supra note 30. ↩︎