Quick Facts
Biography
Louise Rebecca Pinnell was the first female lawyer in Florida.
She was born on March 31, 1877 in Cuba, Missouri to Ethan Allan and Frances Collier Pinnell. Her father Ethan was an attorney who was admitted to the Missouri Bar Association in 1873 and eventually became a probate judge. Pinnell received her early education in Crawford County, Missouri before attending Steelville College. During the 1890s, the entire family moved to Bronson, Levy County, Florida. Pinnell was an autodidact, as there were no law schools in Florida before 1900. She thus received her legal tutelage from her father, and five months after completing her oral examination, became the first female to be admitted to the Florida State Bar in October 1898. Pinnell initially practiced law with her father before joining the law practice ofMajor St. Clair-Abrams, Esq. in Jacksonville, Florida, who specialized in railroad litigation. In 1920, Pinnell began working as an attorney for the Florida East Coast Railway Company in St. Augustine, Florida. She remained at the company for approximately twenty-five years.
Pinnell died on May 22, 1966 in Jacksonville, Florida.