Legal Barriers Quotes



In 1876 Lockwood applied for admission to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and was refused. She lobbied heavily and in 1879 Congress enabled women to qualify (see {598546}) and on March 3 of that year Belva Lockwood became the first woman to be admitted to the Supreme Court bar.


At that time most Americans could not afford the legal expenses to file a civil lawsuit unless it was a huge case and an attorney would take it on s contingency. But for normal cases, only the wealthy had access to the courts for most cases.