From the President, 1016 GABJ, GSB Vol. 22, No. 2, Pg. 6
| Author | PATRICK T. O’CONNOR, President State Bar of Georgia. |
| Position | Vol. 22 2 Pg. 6 |
PATRICK T. O’CONNOR, President State Bar of Georgia.
Women in the Bar: A Century of Progress
This year, we celebrate a milestone— the 100th anniversary of the first woman licensed to practice law in Georgia, which resulted from the 1916 adoption of legislation approved by the Georgia General Assembly. In August, the Women in the Profession Committee of the State Bar’s Young Lawyers Division held a commemorative program at the Bar Center —featuring an informative film, dramatic reading, panel discussion and an exhibit documenting the achievements of women lawyers—which I was honored to attend.
The milestone we celebrate was not easily reached. In 1911, Minnie Hale Daniel became the first woman to graduate from a law school in Georgia—the Atlanta Law School—receiving her law degree along with 40 male students in her class. However, she soon discovered that obtaining a law degree did not entitle her to legally sit for the bar exam, much less practice law in the state of Georgia. For the next five years, she worked to remedy this situation, lobbying for the passage of the “Woman Lawyer’s Bill” under consideration by lawmakers at the State Capitol.
When her efforts finally did pay off, she and the women who followed her were granted the right to practice law. But even after five years of effort, the events of 1916 did not come easy. There remained much resistance in the legal community toward the concept of women practicing law.
On June 3, 1916, during the final day of its 33rd annual session at Tybee Island, the Georgia Bar Association considered a proposed resolution, presented by R.C. Alston of Atlanta, which urged the General Assembly to pass legislation to admit women into law practice. Throughout the existence of the Georgia Bar Association (1884-1964), its membership was always voluntary and “selective.” This was particularly true in its early years. The association’s ranks were entirely made up of white males and were mostly limited to what some called the “elite” of the legal profession.
Following a lengthy afternoon debate, the resolution was defeated by a vote of 45 against and 29 in favor—despite an impassioned closing statement in support of the proposal from Judge Joel Branham of Rome.
“It is not a question of sentiment; it is a question of simple right,” Judge Bran-ham said. “I think that a man and his wife should stand upon equal...
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