In closing our Women’s History Month series about women in the legal industry, we will look at the 20th century, acknowledging the many female judges who served after the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution was passed, giving women the right to vote. Over the decades, we saw many women appointed to judgeships and legal positions of varying levels.
In 1928, Genevieve Rose Cline was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge as the first female federal judge. She served on the U.S. Customs Court.
In 1939, Jane Bolin became the first African American woman to serve as a judge in the United States when she was sworn into the bench of the New York City Domestic Relations Court.
In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was the first African American female judge to be appointed as a Federal Judge. Motley was a key strategist of the civil rights movement, lawyer, judge, and state senator in New York.
Between 1935 and 1961, another famous lawyer, Sarah Tilghman Hughes, served as a sitting state judge in Texas. As the judge called to administer the Oath of Office to Vice-President Lyndon Johnson following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, she is the only woman in our country’s history to swear in a United States President.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. Prior to that, she’d served two terms in the Arizona state senate.
In 1993, another well-known attorney, Janet Reno, became the 78th United States Attorney General and the first female to hold that position. She served in this capacity during both terms of President Bill Clinton’s administration.
Today, there are three women currently serving on the high court: Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Amy Coney Barrett. Other famous female lawyers of today include Hillary Rodham Clinton, Janet Napolitano, Judith Sheindlin (Judge Judy), and the list goes on. All of these women faced unprecedented challenges in their efforts to shatter the glass ceiling. They serve as a shining example to young female attorneys and legal communities around the world.
We want to close out this Women's History Month series by highlighting another incredibly talented woman on the Altman & Associates legal team, Coryn Rosenstock, Esq. Coryn joined the Altman team as an intern in 2012. Coryn earned her law degree from The George Washington University Law School in 2013 and became an associate, learning the craft of estate work under our senior partners, Brenda Bosch and Melissa Aitken. Coryn’s practice includes drafting Wills, Trusts, Financial Powers of Attorney, Advance Medical Directives, HIPAA Release Forms, and prenuptial and postnuptial agreements for our Maryland and Florida clients, as well as drafting Special Needs Trusts for our Maryland residents. She guides clients through the process of establishing small family businesses in Maryland and Florida and through the process of modifying or terminating Maryland trusts. She also advises clients in all stages of the Maryland probate process. Coryn loves estate planning, and she especially enjoys working with young couples starting their lives together.
Rounding out the firm are several other women of excellence, including Jamie Zhang, our Paralegal, Leyli Khosroshahi, our Accounting Manager, Michele Conward, our Client Services Coordinator, and Jackie Ohh, our Legal Assistant. We are incredibly grateful for what each of these remarkably talented women brings to the table.
