In recognition of Women’s History Month, we recognize the African-American Female Judges in our service area of Kansas and the Kansas City Metro.
Judge Gwynne Birzer
U.S. Magistrate Judge
Kansas District /Wichita
Appointed 2015
Hometown: Kansas City
Education:
AA Kansas City Kansas Community College
BA Criminal Justice, Washburn University
Juris Doctorate, Washburn University School of Law
Professional Career:
Following law school, Judge Birzer practiced law in the public sector in Topeka, Kansas, as an assistant public defender, an assistant district attorney, and as an assistant attorney general. She practiced in the private sector in her own firm.
In 2004, Judge Birzer relocated to Wichita, Kansas where she worked at the Sedgwick County Public Defender’s Office. In 2006, she joined Hite, Fanning & Honeyman, LLP where she specialized in medical malpractice defense litigation. In 2011, Judge Birzer became a partner in the firm and served in that capacity until her judicial appointment
Associations:
Judge Birzer has served on the Board of Governors for the Kansas Bar Association and currently serves on the Board of Governors for the Wichita Bar Association. She has also served those organizations on various committees. She is a member of the American Bar Association and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Judge Lajuana Counts
U.S. Magistrate Judge
Western District of Missouri, Kansas City
Appointed 2018
Education:
BS University of Missouri-Columbia
Juris Doctorate, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
Professional Career
Prior to her appointment, Judge Counts was an attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri. Her focus areas included General Crime and Narcotics. She also worked as an appellate coordinator and an appellate unit chief.
“I always say that it’s OK to be the first; you just want to make sure you’re not the last. I don’t care what it is, be it your gender or your race, you want to go in and knock it out of the park and do the best that you can, so the doors remain open for others to come behind you.” –
judge robin ransom
Judge Lisa Hardwick
Missouri Court of Appeal
Kansas City
Appointed 2001
Education:
BA Journalism, University of Missouri – Columbia
Juris Doctorate, Harvard Law School
Professional Career:
After college in 1986, Judge Hardwick joined the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon and rose to the level of partner in 1992. She remained at the firm through 1999 when she was appointed as a Circuit Judge in the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County, MO.
She served in that position for just over a year before being to her current position on the Missouri Court of Appeals. She has been retained in office during two elections. Her current from 2010-2012 she served as Chief Judge.
Associations:
Her professional affiliations and memberships include the Missouri, Jackson County and Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Associations and has served on numerous legal-related commissions including serving as Chairperson of the Judicial Appointment Commissions for the Sixth, Seventh and Sixteenth Circuits
Hardwick was elected to the Jackson County Legislature and served from 1993-2000.
She serves on the Board of Directors for the Truman Library Institute, Swope Community Enterprises, Kansas City Girl’s Preparatory Academy and the Kansas City Crime Commission.
She is a member of St. James United Methodist Church and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
She is also the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including Judge of the Year from the Association of Women Lawyers.
Judge Robin Ransom
Missouri Supreme Court
St. Louis
Appointed 2021
Hometown: St. Louis
Education:
BA Political Science and Sociology, New Brunswick’s Douglass Residential College
Juris Doctorate, University Missouri School of Law
Professional Career:
Ransom began her legal career as a public defender in St. Louis County in 1992 then became a prosecutor in St. Louis County in 1995. In 2002, she was appointed as a juvenile Family Court commissioner in St. Louis.
She’s steadily advanced through the state’s court system. Later in 2002, she was appointed as an associate justice to the Missouri 22nd Circuit Court, St. Louis. She moved up as a circuit justice in 2008 and was unanimously elected to serve as presiding judge in 2018.
In 2019, she was appointed to serve on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District. Where she served until she was appointed to her current position on the Missouri Supreme Court.
Associations:
Ransom bowls competitively, having bowled since she was 11 years old. In March, she’s particularly proud, she finally bowled a perfect 300 game. She tutors children for a local church’s literacy program is a member of the Juvenile Officer Performance Standards Work Group, the Missouri State Foster Care and Adoption Board, as well as a mentor of the nonprofit The Literacy Project.
WOMEN’S HISTORY MOMENT: Judge Ranson is the first African-American female to serve on the Missouri Supreme Court. She was also the first African-American woman to hold the position of presiding judge of the Missouri 22nd Circuit Court in St. Louis.
