Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-23
Mrs. LaW|or
Named Judge
|Af Rockville
MeKeIdin Appoints
Chevy Chase Womul
To Circuit Bench
BY CHARLES L. HOFFMAN

BY CHARLES l.. HOFFMAN
A Chevy Chase woman who
decided to go to law school after
sitting in courts for five years
as her husband argued cases, has
been named a judge of the Cir
cult Court of Rockville.
Mrs. Kathryn j. Lawlor. $500
Woodbine street, Chevy Chase,
Md, was appointed by Gov. Nc
Keldin last night. She will be
the States first woman Circuit
Court judge.
Mrs. Lawlor will fill the va
cancy created by the retirement
this week of Judge Charles w.
Woodward. She will serve with
Judges Stedman Prescott, Thorn
as M. Anderson and Patrick M.
Snauffer. Her appointment runs
to November, 1856. when a judge
will be elected.
Mrs. Lawior is the wife OF
Lawrence A. Lawlor. director OF
legal projects in the Veterans
Administration. They were mar
ried in 1928 shortly after Mrs.
Lawlor's graduation from Hol-
lywood (Calif.) high school.
Watched Husband in Courts
"For the next five years I fol-
lowed my husband, then chief
trial attorney for the solicitors
Office of the Veterans Admins
tration, as he tried cases in Fed
eral district courts all over the
country" Mrs. Lawlor said. Il
became interested in law and
decided to go to law school my
self"
Mrs. Lawlor is an attractive
mother of two children. The
Lawlor home is a teen-age GEN.
ter in the community, partly due
to the family's backyard SWIM
ming pool. The children are
Joan, II, a student at Bethesda
Chevy Chase High School, and
Lawrence j., Is. a student at
Leland Junior High School.
Mrs. Lawlor, who is As, hopes
to take Office early next month,
as soon as she can clear up her
private practice. She now has
Offices in Silver Spring.
Born in Lawrence, Mass, Mrs.
Lawlor spent most of her youth
in the Los Angeles area. While
working on her law degree,
which she got in 1886 at the
Washington College of Law, she
was on the staff of the Legal Aid
Bureau in Washington.
On Legal Aid Bureau Staff
She was admitted to practice
before the United States District
Court and Court of Appeals in
1887, and served more than two
years as a staff attorney for the
Legal Aid Bureau. She was adj
mitted to practice before the
Maryland Court of Appeals in
1912 and the United States Su-
preme Court and Federal Dis
trict Courts in 1948.
Mrs. Lawlor is president of the
County Federation of Republic
can Women. s.,s et
A former secretary treasurer
of the citizens committee of
Chevy Chase Section Five, she
resigned in 1850 when she was
elected to the Montgomery
County Council.
While on the council she was
instrumental in forming the
State Association of County Com
missioners and served as its first
secretary-treasurer.
Good Government Award
In 1852 Mrs. Lawlor received
the Good Government Award of
the Bethesda Junior Chamber of
Commerce. Early the next year
she resigned from the council to
accept an appointment to the
Maryland House of Delegates.
She was defeated last November
for election to the House.
She is best known in the county
as an attorney in coming cases
and recently has been a legal
representative for the General
outdoor Advertising Co.
Mrs. Lawlor last year served
on the Governors Commission
to study the laws of the Wash
ington Suburban Sanitary Com
mission.
Mrs. Lawlor has been active in
community affairs. She is pub
licity chairman of the Camp
Echo Lake Youth Fund. She is
a member of Zonta International
and Phi Delta Delta legal fra
ternity. At one time Mrs. Lawlor
was a vice president of the
Woman's Bar Association in the
District.