Lavinia Goodell becomes the first woman to win an appeal in the supreme court
Lavinia Goodell becomes the first woman to win an appeal in the Wisconsin Supreme Court with Ingalls v. State, 48 Wis. 647 (1880)
Women's History
Lavinia Goodell becomes the first woman admitted to the supreme court
In 1875, Goodell is denied admission to the Wisconsin Supreme Court solely because of her gender. She drafts a law prohibiting gender discrimination in the practice of law, persuades the legislature and governor to enact it, and finally gains admission.
Lavinia Goodell becomes Wisconsin’s first woman lawyer
Goodell is admitted to the Rock County Circuit Court and becomes Wisconsin’s first woman lawyer. That same year she becomes the first woman to try a case to a judge and, a few weeks later, to a jury. She prevails in both.