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List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Washington

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This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Washington. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are men who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Washington's history

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Ricardo S. Martinez: First Hispanic American male Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (2004)
Cyrus Habib: First Iranian American blind male to serve as the Lieutenant Governor of Washington (2017)

Lawyers

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  • First African American male: Robert O. Lee (1889)[1]
  • First Native American male (Chelan people): Louie Wapato (c. 1907)[2]
  • First Chinese American male: Warren Chan (1950)[3][4][5]
  • First Korean American male: Eddie Yoon (1976)[6][7][8][9]

Law Clerk

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State judges

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Federal judges

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United States Attorney

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Assistant United States Attorney

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Attorney General

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Assistant Attorney General

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Political Office

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Washington State Bar Association

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  • First African American male president: Ronald Ward from 2004-2005[45]
  • First openly gay male president: Anthony Gipe[46]
  • First South Asian male president: Rajeev Majumdar in 2019[47]

Firsts in local history

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  • (Leonard) Carl Maxey (1951):[48] First African American male lawyer in Eastern Washington
  • Jack Edward Tanner (1955):[34][35] Considered "the first African American in the Pacific Northwest to be elevated to the federal bench"
  • Cameron Mitchell:[49] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Benton-Franklin Superior Court (2004)
  • Salvador Mendoza Jr. (1997):[36] First Hispanic American male to serve as a Judge of the Benton-Franklin Superior Court (2013-2014)
  • John Edward Hawkins (1895):[50] First African American male lawyer in King County, Washington
  • Warren Chan (1950):[3][4][5] First Chinese American male lawyer in Seattle, Washington [King County, Washington]
  • Solie M. Ringold:[15] First Jewish American male judge in Washington (1961)
  • Charles Z. Smith (1955):[10] First African American male appointed as a municipal court judge in Seattle, Washington (1965)
  • Charles M. Stokes (c. 1943):[17] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the King County District Court, Washington (1968)
  • Mark Chow:[21][22][23] First Asian American male elected as a district court judge in King County, Washington (1990)
  • Ricardo S. Martinez (1980):[24][25] First Latino American male to serve as a judge in King County, Washington (1990)
  • Gary Maehara:[51] First Asian American male to serve as the President of the King County Bar Association, Washington (2005)
  • Dan Gandara:[51] First Latino American male to serve as the President of the King County Bar Association, Washington (2008)
  • James Andrus:[51] First African American male to serve as the President of the King County Bar Association, Washington (2009)
  • Eduardo Peñalver:[52] First Latino American male to serve as the President of Seattle University School of Law (2021) [King County, Washington]
  • Benjamin Santos:[53] First Filipino American male to serve as a Judge of the King County Superior Court (2025)
  • Nathan Sargeant:[54] First African American male to serve as a Justice of the Peace in Kitsap County, Washington (1897)
  • Theodore "Ted" Spearman Jr.:[55] First African American male judge in Kitsap County, Washington (2004)
  • Sergio Armijo:[56] First Latino American male to serve as a Judge of the Pierce County Superior Court (1994)

See also

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Other topics of interest

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References

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  1. ^ "Robert O. Lee becomes first African American to practice law in Washington in 1889. - HistoryLink.org". www.historylink.org. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  2. ^ Ruby, Robert H.; Brown, John Arthur (1988). Indians of the Pacific Northwest: A History. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2113-0.
  3. ^ a b c d "Former King County Superior Court Judge Warren Chan dies". The Seattle Times. June 26, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d "BLOG: Honoring Warren Chan — Icon of an incredible generation". Northwest Asian Weekly. July 9, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Announcement: Memorial service for Judge Warren Chan set for July 3". International Examiner. July 2, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  6. ^ "Time to vote — API candidates that will be on your ballot". Northwest Asian Weekly. October 23, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  7. ^ "Eddie Yoon (Pages - Online Voters' Guide)". wei.sos.wa.gov. 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  8. ^ "A recap of all races in the Washington and Idaho 2014 Election". Spokesman.com. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  9. ^ "Eddie Yoon, proud Lincoln Abe and the state's first Korean..." News Tribune. January 10, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Charles Z. Smith: Trailblazer - Legacy Washington - WA Secretary of State". Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d "Former state Supreme Court Justice Charles Smith dies | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d Alexander, Gerry (July 11, 2007). "Charles Z. Smith (1927-2016) •". Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  13. ^ "Prim, John E. (1898-1961) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  14. ^ "John E. Prim behind judge's bench, Seattle, ca. 1950 :: Black Heritage Society (KCS)". digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  15. ^ a b "State's first Jewish judge dies". products.kitsapsun.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  16. ^ "Washington State Courts - Washington Court News". www.courts.wa.gov. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  17. ^ a b "Stokes, Charles Moorehead (1903-1996) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". blackpast.org. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  18. ^ "Judge Richard Ishikawa, pioneer and mentor". The Seattle Times. March 9, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  19. ^ "Richard Moriye Ishikawa". Bellevue Reporter. March 3, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  20. ^ "Washington State Courts - Minority and Justice Commission". www.courts.wa.gov. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Judge Mark Chow - King County". www.kingcounty.gov. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Chang, Gordon H. (2001). Asian Americans and Politics: Perspectives, Experiences, Prospects. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804742016.
  23. ^ a b "King County Elections". www.kingcounty.gov. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  24. ^ a b c "Three federal judges speak with Whitman students". Whitman College. October 7, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  25. ^ a b c "King County Bar Association's Annual Awards Celebration" (PDF). King County Bar Association. 2021.
  26. ^ "Lowry Choices: Win One, Lose One -- Macinnes, Burrage Will Fill Out Terms | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  27. ^ a b "Justice Gonzalez's win raises questions about role of ethnicity". The Seattle Times. August 8, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  28. ^ a b "Gonzalez sworn in as new justice". theolympian. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  29. ^ a b "Justice Steven Gonzalez - The Minority Experience in Washington | AJC". www.ajc.org. March 30, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  30. ^ a b "Washington's new chief justice vows to 'follow through' and eradicate bias in the justice system". KNKX Public Radio. January 12, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  31. ^ "Honorable Damon Shadid - Courts | seattle.gov". seattle.gov. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  32. ^ "First judge of Samoan heritage in state history appointed to the bench". KIRO 7 News Seattle. February 17, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  33. ^ "New Year Marks Start of New Leadership for Superior Court". Medium. January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  34. ^ a b "Jack Tanner, First Black U.S. Judge, Dies at 86". The Washington Post. January 13, 2006. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  35. ^ a b "Tanner, Jack (1919-2006) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  36. ^ a b c junio 2014, Por: Griselda Nevarez 18. "Salvador Mendoza: From migrant farm worker to federal judge". La Opinión (in Spanish). Retrieved December 24, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ a b "US Trial Judge Salvador Mendoza Confirmed to Ninth Circuit (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  38. ^ a b Herald-Republic, TAMMY AYER Yakima. "Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. from the Yakima Valley confirmed to 9th Circuit appeals court". Yakima Herald-Republic. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  39. ^ "Washington State Courts - Members of the Court of Appeals - Div I Bio - Judge John H. Chun". www.courts.wa.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  40. ^ Syed, Maleeha. "WA's new federal judges signify reversal of Trump-era influence | Crosscut". crosscut.com. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  41. ^ The National Jewish Monthly. B'nai B'rith. 1927.
  42. ^ "Nick Brown makes history as first Black attorney general in Washington state". Yahoo News. November 6, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  43. ^ The Repeal and Its Legacy: Proceedings of the Conference on the 50th Anniversary of the Repeal of the Exclusion Acts, November 12-14, 1993. Chinese Historical Society of America. 1994. ISBN 978-1-885864-01-7.
  44. ^ "Candidate Makes History, Becoming First Iranian American Elected to a State Legislature". PAAIA. November 7, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  45. ^ "Ronald R. Ward, J.D." Civility Center for Law. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  46. ^ "2016 General Election Voters' Guide Judicial - Anthony Gipe". weiapplets.sos.wa.gov. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  47. ^ "Rajeev Majumdar is the first state bar president of South Asian descent". Northwest Asian Weekly. October 7, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  48. ^ "African Americans in the Pacific Northwest: A Select Bibliography" (PDF). Washington State Library / Office of the Secretary of State.
  49. ^ "Benton-County judge, Wenatchee lawyer pegged for Shea replacement". tri-cityherald. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  50. ^ "John Edward Hawkins, King County's first black lawyer to be locally trained, is admitted to the Bar in 1895. - HistoryLink.org". www.historylink.org. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  51. ^ a b c "Mission & History". www.kcba.org. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  52. ^ "Eduardo M. Peñalver, from 'first' Latino law school dean to 'first' Latino college president". NBC News. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  53. ^ Branigin, Bing Cardenas (April 1, 2025). "Fil-Am named King County Superior Court judge". INQUIRER.net USA. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  54. ^ "Bremerton: A Celebra'ion of Black History". products.kitsapsun.com. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  55. ^ "Theodore Ferdinand "Ted" Spearman Jr". Legacy.com (Seattle Times).
  56. ^ Peterson, Josephine (February 2, 2022). "Pierce County Superior Court's first Latino judge has died". The News Tribune.
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