Famous Black lawyers throughout history

Increasing diversity in the legal field has been a long battle. Learn about a few of the Black lawyers who have helped pave the way for others.

As it stands, 5.1% of all U.S. legal associates in 2020 were Black, and only 1.2% of law firm partners were Black. This lies in stark comparison to the 13.4% of Black Americans who make up the U.S. population. While equal representation in the legal field still has a long way to go, many barrier-breaking Black lawyers have paved the way for increased diversity in the profession as we continue to work toward true equity. Here are just a few of them and their accomplishments.

• In 1844, Macon Bolling Allen passed the bar exam, making him the first African American licensed to practice law in the U.S. Allen then went on to become the first African American to hold a judicial position as Massachusetts Justice of the Peace in 1848.

• Following Allen came trailblazer Charlotte E. Ray, who became the first female African American lawyer in the U.S. in 1872. She was a crucial player in early abolitionist movements and the first woman to practice before the Supreme Court.

• Charles Hamilton Houston spent his career fighting against Jim Crow throughout the South and successfully challenged segregation at the University of Maryland Law School. He was also the first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review and fought in multiple cases before the Supreme Court. He mentored Thurgood Marshall, who carried on his fight.

• Fred Gray was an essential part of the U.S. civil rights movement. As a young Black lawyer, Gray provided legal counsel during the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, defending Rosa Parks. He also worked closely with the NAACP and defended civil rights cases such as Gomillion v. Lightfoot and Dixon v. Alabama.

• In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall as the first African American Supreme Court Justice. Prior to his judicial service, he successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education with United States District Court Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first African American female federal judge in the U.S.

• In 1939, Jane Bolin became the first female African American judge in the country. Jane Bolin served 40 years fighting for families on the family court bench. She broke new ground as the first Black woman to graduate Yale Law, join the NYC Bar Association, and join the NYC Law Department.

• Before he was elected the first African American president in 2008, Barack Obama graduated from Harvard Law School and, as a community organizer, helped rebuild Chicago neighborhoods that had suffered as a result of the fall of the steel industry there.

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