Lady Law Book

In the mid-1940s a group of women asked the governor of Arizona to appoint Lorna Lockwood to a vacancy on the Superior Court. His response was, "No woman is capable of being a judge." Having faced that kind of prejudice all of her life, she ran in the next election-and won. Ten years later, in 1960, she ran for a position on the State Supreme Court-and won again. And in 1965, she became the first woman chief justice on any state supreme court in America. Lorna, upon her retirement commented, "I had to work twice as hard to be considered for those posts because I was a woman."
Lorna was born in 1903 on the southern border of the Arizona Territory in the mining town of Douglas when it was under the protection of the Arizona Rangers. Shoot-outs over gambling debts in saloons and dance halls, along with violence from the Mexican Revolution occasionally spilling across the border, were common.
In 1913, Lorna's father left his law practice in Douglas to become the Superior Court Judge, and the family moved to the county seat of Tombstone. Lorna always loved visiting her father's law office; and later, visiting the Cochise County Courthouse watching her father preside over trials. She thought the law was the most important work anyone could do.
Graduating from the University of Arizona with one of the highest grade point averages in her class, she applied to law school where she was told by the dean that "law school was no place for a woman." She was forced to present her case again and again before being admitted. After graduating in the top of her class and after being admitted to the Arizona State Bar, she discovered no law firm would hire her. She would not practice law for fourteen years. Lorna was persistent, and embarking on a journey against overwhelming odds and prejudices, she finally achieved and exceeded her goals.
Lady Law is the story of Lorna Lockwood's remarkable journey.