Blazing Trails

Blazing Trails: Reflections from Judith Oakes

By Judith Rush

Judith Oakes

monthly office meetings. Judy has always been an inspiration to me, from the time I was an 18-year-old with a few weeks of secretarial training and I went to work for Judy’s law firm, to a conversation we had just earlier this year. Judy co-founded the first women owned law firm in the State and was representing women who had been discriminated against in their jobs – a top journalist at a local newspaper, a flight attendant at a big airline, a police officer for a local city. Her partner was the first woman labor arbitrator in the state. The firm was run on egalitarian principles such as the idea that everyone in the law office could readily answer a telephone, whether they had attended law school or were a green secretary, and each had something to contribute to the organization, which included having a voice at

Judy blazed trails that none had dared before her. She was one of very few women in her law school class, and the only woman who graduated from law school with her class. She suffered many indignities in law school from her classmates, some who would suggest that she was taking the space of a man who should have been there instead. Also later from employers, who suggested many reasons not to hire her. She could have been a secretary, they supposed. It seems quite fitting then that Judy’s work protecting the rights of women and others from discrimination was on the forefront of this area of law, and it was written about in a book called Sue Your Boss. Without question, she was a successful practicing lawyer for 50 years, advocating on behalf of clients (both paid and unpaid) and on behalf of the legal community, through her bar association efforts. Although there are many stories of Judy having to put up with a whole lot of difficulty, there are many more stories of how she thrived, succeeded, and effected change.

Judy recently shared the story of how she had become an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law. She was aware that the lawyer who was teaching “Welfare Law” (which it is no longer called these days) was leaving the position. So she approached the Dean and asked him if she could teach the course. She had worked at the Attorney General’s Office and knew her stuff about the topic. He agreed and she took on the role. Then, because she was an adjunct, Judy received a number of books

The MWL Wahl Leadership Lecture, Fall 1997. Left to right: Justice Rosalie Wahl, Judge Susan Miles and Judy Oakes MWL’s 47th Annual Meeting, Spring 2019. Left to right: Tina Syring presenting the Myra Bradwell Award to Judy Oakes from publishers, including a new book on “Women & the Law,” which was being introduced in law schools around the country. So Judy proposed to the Dean that William Mitchell should be teaching Women in the Law, and that she was available to teach it. Again, the Dean agreed and Judy ended up teaching the first Women in the Law course at William Mitchell. She said she just happened to secure those opportunities because she knew the Dean, but I know better. Judy saw a strategic opportunity, took initiative, and was willing to speak up.

As one of MWL’s Founding Mothers and Past-President, Judy shared that she so appreciated how Minnesota Women Lawyers allowed her and other women lawyers to be part of a group of like-minded women lawyers. This was so important since women lawyers were often isolated in law firms and the practice in general. Having an opportunity to be together allowed her and others a place where they could be themselves. Her relationships with her MWL colleagues have meant the world to her. g

ABOUT JUDITH OAKES: Judith (Judy) Oakes has blazed the trail for women lawyers around Minnesota during her more than 50 years of practice. In 1974, Judy and her colleague, the Honorable Judge Harriet Lansing opened their own firm, the first women-owned law firm in the State. She was also a principal at J Oakes & Associates from 1980-2008, and more recently, joined Rogness & Field, P.A. several years before her retirement. During her many years of practice, Judy has been a champion for those who faced discrimination in their workplaces, and later serving clients in family law matters. She has taught at both William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline) and the University of Minnesota Law School. Judy guided many a colleague along the trails she has blazed as a mentor to many law clerks, associates, young lawyers, and law students over the years. She has lent her expertise by publishing in the field of family law and presenting at Continuing Legal Education programs throughout her career. Judy earned her reputation as an honest, ethical and zealous advocate for her clients and was a certified trial specialist and recognized “Super Lawyer.” Judy led MWL as President from 1974-1976, chaired MWL’s Appointments Committee from 1976-1978 and its Endorsement Election Task Force from 1997 to 1998. Judy’s service to MWL was recognized with the Service to MWL Award in 2001 and 2007, and the MWL Myra Bradwell Award in 2019.

ABOUT JUDITH RUSH: Judith Rush recently became mentor relationship manager of the Mentor Externship Program, having served as director for more than ten years at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, and focuses on her ethics and professional responsibility practice after many years of teaching and volunteering in lawyer regulation and lawyer assistance. She first met Judy when she was hired to work for Judy and her partner Vi Kanatz.