Lisa Richette

Who was Lisa Richette?

Lisa Aversa Richette was an American lawyer and judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County. A lifelong Philadelphian, she was appointed to the bench in 1971. Noted for her outspokenness, she was a social activist particularly in the areas of homelessness, child welfare, and juvenile justice.

Richette was a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls. She was one of the first female graduates of Yale Law School. She became an assistant district attorney, one of a handful of groundbreaking women in the local legal profession along with the future long serving District Attorney of Philadelphia Lynne Abraham. Once thrown out of court for wearing a pantsuit, Richette often wore pants and long dangling earrings in court at a time when it was considered almost risqué for a female attorney to do so. In 1971, she was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County, being one of the first females to hold that office.

Richette was the author of the 1969 book on the juvenile justice system in Philadelphia, The Throwaway Children. In 1973 she founded the Child Abuse Prevention Effort. She taught at Yale Law School and Villanova University.