Eleanor Nisperos

Eleanor Oducayen Nisperos is California’s first Filipina American female lawyer.

She completed her undergraduate education at the University of Manila, and earned her law degree in 1971 from the University of California, Berkeley. The following year, she became the first Filipina admitted to practice law in California.

Nisperos served as the first President of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC) from 1981-1982. She initially worked as a Deputy Attorney General in San Francisco, California before serving as an Administrative Law Judge and Chief Judge for the California Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board until her retirement. From 2007-2011, Nisperos served as Deputy Attorney General for the Northern Mariana Islands’ Office of the Attorney General.