Woman Lawyer The Trials of Clara Foltz [Hardcover]

Woman Lawyertells the story of Clara Foltz, the first woman admitted to the California Bar. Famous in her time as a public intellectual, leader of the women's movement, and legal reformer, Foltz faced terrific prejudice and well-organized opposition to women lawyers as she tried cases in front of all-male juries, raised five children as a single mother, and stumped for political candidates. She was the first to propose the creation of a public defender to balance the public prosecutor.Woman Lawyeruncovers the legal reforms and societal contributions of a woman celebrated in her day, but lost to history until now. It casts new light on the turbulent history and politics of California in a period of phenomenal growth and highlights the interconnection of the suffragists and other movements for civil rights and legal reforms.

Stanford Law professor Barbara Babcock enriches our knowledge of women and the law in California history with this single volume,Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz. . . Chapters devoted to her writings in law reviews and model statutes investigate and reveal Foltz's thinking and her impact on public life. . . [R]eaders will find in them extensive detail and compelling analysis. Babcock is at her best inWoman Lawyer. . . giving just enough information to whet the appetite. Barbara Babcock, Judge John Crown Professor of Law, Emerita, at Stanford University, is the first woman appointed to the regular faculty at Stanford Law School. She served as an Assistant Attorney General and was the first Director of the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C. By rescuing Clara Foltz's story from relative obscurity, Babcock has provided a powerful reminder of women's strength in the face of adversity, their will to overcome difficulties, and, together with sympathique brothers-in-law, to work toward a system of justice accessible and fair to all. Women Lawyer should engage feminists of my era and my children's generalã