Betty Binns Fletcher
| Betty Binns Fletcher | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | |
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In office September 26, 1979 – November 1, 1998 |
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| Nominated by | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | Richard Tallman |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 29, 1923 Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | October 22, 2012 (aged 89) Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Stanford University University of Washington, Seattle |
Betty Binns Fletcher (March 29, 1923 – October 22, 2012) was an American lawyer and judge. She served as a federal judge on the San Francisco-based United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit between 1979 and 2012.
Fletcher was one of the first women to become a partner in a major American law firm and the second woman to be appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Born in Tacoma, Washington to an attorney and his wife who were active New Deal Democrats, Elizabeth Binns wanted to be a lawyer from a young age. Her father sometimes allowed her to skip classes in order to watch him try cases; she graduated from the local public high school at age 16. She then attended Stanford University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1942 at the age of 19.
Because so many men were away during World War II, Binns was admitted to the Stanford Law School, and completed one year before marrying Robert L. Fletcher, who was soon assigned to fly anti-aircraft blimps out of Lakehurst, New Jersey. They started a family, and moved back to Lakewood, Washington after the war. With her parents' assistance in caring for their four young children (and renting out their own house to live in Lakewood), Fletcher resumed her legal education after a decade, now commuting to Seattle, Washington to study at the University of Washington School of Law. In 1956 she graduated from the University of Washington at the top of her law school class.
Despite graduating at the top of her class, Fletcher had difficulty finding a job with any Seattle law firm. Finally, Charles Horowitz of Preston Gates & Ellis (later K&L Gates) took a chance on her, and Fletcher eventually became a partner at the law firm and the first woman partner at any major Pacific Northwest law firm. Fletcher thus was in private practice in from 1956 to 1979, and earned a reputation for pragmatism. She was instrumental in expanding the firm's presence in Asia, and also inherited Horowitz's clients when he accepted a position on the Washington Supreme Court in 1975. Her clients included former United States Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas.
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