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Honorable Judge Sara Mathilde Soffel

First Female Judge in Pennsylvania and Allegheny County

First woman elected to the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh

October 27, 1886 - October 5, 1976 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Judge Sara M. Soffel lived a life of "firsts." She was the first female County Court Judge in Allegheny County and in the state of Pennsylvania. She was appointed by Governor. John S. Fisher in 1930 and took office on August 27, 1930. She was the first woman to complete her entire legal education at the University of Pittsburgh Law School. She graduated top of her class in 1916, a distinction that normally carried with a cash prize and a position on the faculty as an assistant instructor. She received the cash prize but was not offered or awarded the position. Despite her achievements, no local law firm would hire her. Determined to succeed, she established her own law firm and learned how to type and write shorthand so she could do her own clerical work. Her first office was in the family home in Mt. Washington section of Pittsburgh. In 1919, she moved her law practice into an office outside the home and established a reputation for excellence.

In 1922, Soffel became Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Pittsburgh serving until 1926 under May William A. Magee. In 1928, Soffel was appointed Director of Bureau of Women and Children in the State Department of Labor and Industry. She left that post when she was appointed to the position of County Court Judge for Allegheny County. In 1931, Soffel was elected to the same post for a ten-year term. In 1941, Judge Soffel was elected to her second term to the Court of Common Please. She remained in that post until she retired from the bench in January. She then returned to practicing law at Buchanan, Ingersoll, Rodewald, Kyle & Buerger.

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