The Women Lawyers Association of Michigan (WLAM) was founded by five women attorneys on March 24, 1919, before women won the right to vote. Its initial mission was “to advance the interest of women members of the legal profession and to promote a fraternal spirit among lawyers.” In its early days WLAM was primarily what I would call in modern parlance, a social professional networking group. The primary activity when the group was first founded consisted of monthly meetings, which usually took place in one of the members’ homes. The emphasis was on strengthening professional ties between women lawyers, sharing knowledge, information, and experience, and mentoring younger inexperienced women attorneys. Eventually the format was expanded to include speakers on notable and educational topics and programming involving advancing women in the legal profession and community service. Two of the earlier programs/projects concerned support for the WWII effort and a year long discussion/research project on the topic of labor restrictions against women.
As early as 1926, WLAM was active in supporting the advancement of women lawyers through seeking their appointment and election to public and professional positions. WLAM had some initial success.
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With active support from the Association, Lila Neuenfelt was elected Justice of the Peace. Although the organization’s continued efforts to get women lawyers appointed and elected to the bench were not entirely successful, the members did not give up, and their persistence paid off in 1941 when Lila Neuenfelt was elected as the first woman Circuit Court Judge In Michigan. Another notable Michigan woman attorney, Judge Cornelia Kennedy was first elected to the Wayne County Circuit Court bench in Detroit in 1966, and in 1969, she became the first Michigan woman to be appointed to the federal bench.
Over the ensuing years, WLAM continued to grow and, in 1975, due to the expanding statewide membership, the organization was re-structured in to its current hierarchy: one state umbrella association with several smaller regional chapters throughout the state. In 1983, WLAM formed its charitable arm, the WLAM Foundation. The Foundation’s primary mission is the “promotion of programs which enhance civic education through law and promotion of scholarships and opportunities for women at primary, secondary, college, and law school levels.” In 1998, the WLAM Foundation awarded $500 scholarships to 5 outstanding women law students. Over the years, the Foundation has been able to increase the amount of the scholarship due to outstanding fundraising efforts. In 2004, the Foundation awarded a record total of $42,500 in scholarships to 15 law students. In 2010, the Foundation raised over $40,000 for scholarships and was able to award 10 deserving women law students. WLAM applauds the success of the Foundation and continues to support its efforts.
Today WLAM has seven regional chapters and three student chapters for different campuses of Cooley Law School, and the state board has been active in facilitating and supporting the formation of new regions. In recent years, WLAM’s state umbrella organization has concentrated its efforts on leadership training and developing resources to support the programming efforts of the regional chapters. The bulk of WLAM’s programming is conducted at the regional level by the board members of the respective chapters. However, WLAM’s state board continues to hold its annual meeting, which includes the Women and the Law Conference.
In 2006, the WLAM state board established the Jean King Leadership Award in honor of longtime WLAM member Jean Ledwith King of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a renowned attorney and activist whose entire career has been devoted to advocating women’s rights. The Jean King award is presented at the WLAM Annual Meeting. In 2010, the award recipient was Kathleen Bogas, a WLAM member and well respected employee rights attorney.
In May 2010, WLAM held its 92nd Annual Meeting, which was devoted to the theme: “Unconscious Gender Bias: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You.” There were over 100 attendees. The first panel, comprised of Kathleen Bogas, Jennifer Salvatore, and State Representative Rebekah Warren, discussed their plan for introducing proposed Michigan legislation on Pay Equity and Family Responsibilities Discrimination. WLAM’s Gender Equity Committee has been actively involved in collaborating with Rep. Warren to draft this proposed legislation and develop a strategy to get it enacted into law. The program also included a panel on how to position yourself for increased compensation. The incoming state board was also sworn in at the annual meeting by longtime WLAM member and Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, Marilyn Kelly.
The information contained in this article was taken in part from articles and information on the WLAM website (including a blog by Theresa Killeen), an article entitled “Women Lawyers Association of Michigan: Who, How, Why” by Elaine Frost and Karen Colby Weiner, which was published in the Michigan Bar Journal, June 1984, p465, and the WLAM Foundation website.
Neuenfeldt
WLAM Leaders Past
Judge Lila Neuenfeldt
Judge Lila Neuenfelt was the youngest person in Michigan to be elected justice of the peace and was the first female circuit court judge in Michigan (Wayne County). Judge Neuenfelt fought for the right of married women to continue to use their birth name when standing for election. After her marriage, the Dearborn City Clerk attempted to force Judge Neuenfelt to use her husband’s surname when running for office. Judge Neuenfelt declined and obtained an opinion from the Michigan Attorney General clarifying that she did not have to use her married name in the election.
WLAM President 1931 to 1933
Cahill
WLAM Leaders Past
Kimberly M. Cahill
Kimberly M. Cahill was the 72nd President of the State Bar of Michigan. She was the fourth woman to lead the SBM. A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Cahill’s life was dedicated to serving the profession. She was an SBM commissioner, chair of the SBM Representative Assembly, a board member of the Michigan State Bar Foundation, and a founder and past president of the Macomb County Bar Foundation. Cahill and her sister, Dana M. Warnez, are the first sisters to head a state bar.
WLAM President 1996 to 1997
Barsamiam
WLAM Leaders Past
Judge Y. Gladys Barsamiam
Judge Y. Gladys Barsamian was a Wayne County Probate Judge, assigned to the Juvenile Division, for about 18 years. During her tenure, she developed the Wayne County Juvenile Justice Plan, initiated the Youth Assistance Program, and developed the intensive probation program. Judge Barsamian graduated from Wayne State University Law School. She was also the first Armenian American President of WLAM.
WLAM President 1971 to 1972
Freund Cohane
WLAM Leaders Past
Regene Freund Cohane
Regene Freund Cohane was a lawyer who was dedicated to combating sexism and anti-Semitism. She was president of the National Council of Jewish Women. In 1933, she led the NCJW’s creation of a soup kitchen and a camp providing free vacations in the country to working-class women. Freund Cohane and her husband were the first married couple to argue a case before the US Supreme Court.
WLAM President 1943 to 1944
Schaub
WLAM Leaders Past
Emelia Schaub
WLAM Member Emelia Schaub became the first female prosecuting attorney in Michigan. She successfully defended James Corbett–making her the first woman lawyer in Michigan to win a murder case. Additionally, she worked on behalf of the Ottawa and Chippewa citizens of Leelanau County, including tribal relations. In 1932, Schaub obtained a writ of habeas corpus for someone who had been imprisoned for over a year while immigration officials tried to find grounds for deportation. In 1936, she secured over $5,000 for tuition paid by 13 Detroit women when the instructor running a sewing school without a license failed to fulfill her agreement with them.
Former WLAM Secretary and Treasurer
Battani
WLAM Leaders Past
Judge Marianne O. Battani
Hon. Marianne Battani was born in 1944. She served on the bench for over 40 years. Throughout her tenure, she served as a judge on the Common Pleas Court of the City of Detroit, the 36th District Court, and the Wayne County Circuit Court. In 1999, she was appointed by President Clinton to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, where she served until her retirement in 2020.
WLAM President 1976 to 1977
Comstock
WLAM Leaders Past
Justice Dorothy Comstock Riley
Hon. Dorothy Comstock Riley served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 1982 through 1983 and again from 1985 through 1997. She acted as the Chief Justice from 1987-1991. When she graduated law school in 1949, Justice Riley interviewed with several law firms, but because women lawyers were essentially unheard of at the time, she practiced on her own for six years. She was a member of many organizations that supported and celebrated professional women. She was the first Hispanic woman to be elected to a state supreme court and is the founder and Honorary Chair of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. She retired from the Michigan Supreme Court in 1997 and passed on October 23, 2004.
WLAM President 1957 to 1958
Davidow
WLAM Leaders Past
Anne Davidow
Anne Davidow graduated from law school in 1920, the same year that the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote was enacted. Ms. Davidow practiced law with her older brother, and they served as counsel to the newly formed United Auto Workers (UAW). She also appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948 to argue Goesaert v. Cleary. She was the first to argue that sex discrimination violated women’s constitutional rights by denying equal protection under the 14th Amendment. In this case, she argued that a Michigan statute prohibiting women from working as bartenders unless their husband or father owned the bar was unconstitutional. While she lost the case in the Court, she convinced the Michigan Legislature to repeal the law.
WLAM President 1924 to 1927
Doland Cornelius
WLAM Leaders Past
Theresa Doland Cornelius
Before starting her law career, Doland Cornelius taught school. She studied law at the Detroit College of Law and the University of Detroit. Doland Cornelius began practicing in 1915 and was involved in several high-profile cases. She was also, as one reporter noted, “a little woman who . . . acquired the honor of being the first feminine lawyer to appear in a criminal case in the federal district court in Detroit.”
In 1919, Doland Cornelius founded WLAM with four other “ardent Portias from Detroit.” She served as WLAM’s first president. After misappropriating funds from an estate, Doland Cornelius was disbarred in 1933. She died in 1943.
WLAM President 1919 to 1921
Griffiths
WLAM Leaders Past
Lt. Governor Martha Griffiths
WLAM member Martha Griffiths was born in 1912. In 1954, she was the first woman elected to the United States Congress from Michigan as a member of the Democratic Party. During her tenure in Congress, she was instrumental in including the prohibition of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and has been described as “the mother of the Equal Rights Amendment.” She was also the first elected (non-appointed) female lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1982.
Groefsema Kennedy
WLAM Leaders Past
Judge Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy
WLAM member Hon. Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy was born in 1923. After graduating law school, she worked as one of the first female clerks for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She then went on the serve as a judge in numerous courts, including the Wayne County Circuit Court, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She was one of the final two candidates considered by President Reagan to be the first female justice of the Supreme Court, and narrowly lost the nomination to Sandra Day O’Connor. Kennedy and her sister, Judge Margaret G. Schaeffer, were the first sister judges in the United States.
Marsh
WLAM Leaders Past
Harriet A. Marsh
Originally from New York, Marsh came to Detroit as a child in 1853. Marsh worked in Detroit as a teacher and principal for 40 years before her retirement in 1906. During her tenure, Marsh organized the City’s first school mothers’ club in 1893 (later the parent-teacher association). Marsh wrote several books on history and education. She was also on the Kalamazoo Board of Education. Marsh received her L.L.B. from the Detroit College of Law in 1899. After Marsh’s death, the Detroit School Board voted to name a school after her in 1933.
WLAM’s First Secretary
Moran
WLAM Leaders Past
Hazel Moran
Hazel Moran graduated from the University of Detroit Law School. Shortly after passing the bar in 1923, Moran became a Wayne County assistant prosecutor. There she worked on several newsworthy homicide cases. Moran left prosecution work for private practice. Moran ran for the Michigan House of Representatives in 1940. Even though she was the Detroit Free Press’s preferred candidate, she lost her race. Moran was involved in numerous civic and professional organizations, including the Zonta Club, the National Association of Women, the Civic Study Club, the Women of the Moose, Kappa Beta Pi, and the Republican Council of Wayne County Women.
WLAM President 1933 to 1935
Munnecke
WLAM Leaders Past
Phoebe C. Munnecke
Phoebe Munnecke first gained prominence as a suffragist. In 1919, she was sentenced to ten days in jail for burning copies of speeches by President Wilson in front of the White House. Munnecke went on a hunger strike in jail. About three years later, Munnecke graduated from the Detroit College of Law and became a lawyer. It is unclear, however, if Munnecke ever practiced law. Based on the news stories about her, it appears that she spent most of her life working with the National Woman’s Party to advance women’s rights. (As a side note, The Holland Evening Sentinel called the National Woman’s Party “the most militant woman’s organization in the United States” in 1953.)
WLAM President 1938 to 1939
Rosenthal
WLAM Leaders Past
Henrietta Rosenthal
Henrietta Rosenthal was one of the “five ardent Portias” who founded WLAM in 1919. She became WLAM’s second president in 1921.
Before entering practice, Rosenthal was a Latin teacher. She graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1918. Rosenthal was a very prominent member of the Detroit legal community. Rosenthal spent the last 27 years of her legal career as an adviser to the judges of the Detroit Recorder’s Court. Upon her retirement at age 85, the Detroit Free Press recognized that Rosenthal was “[o]ne of the first women to practice law in Michigan, [and she] had ghost-written many of the opinions handed down by the court and defended the judges in numerous lawsuits.” The WLAM Journal’s editorial board named its annual award in Rosenthal’s honor in 2023.
WLAM President 1921 to 1923
Williams
WLAM Leaders Past
Judge Clarice (Jobes) Williams
Judge Clarice (Jobes) Williams was well-known for her liberal politics. The Human Rights Party nominated her to be its candidate for Michigan Attorney General in 1974. (And Judge Jobes was the first woman to be nominated for this position by any political party.) A 1972 news story about Judge Jobes starting a law firm with two other women ran nationally because the firm was reportedly the largest all-woman in Detroit. In 1978, Governor Milliken appointed Judge Jobes to the Recorder’s Court. Judge Jobes remained at the court until her retirement 17 years later. Judge Jobes was also a founder of the National Association of Women Judges. She became its president in 1983.
