A Life in the Law

In 1949, when attorney Mary M. Dunlap moved her law practice and her young children from urban Denver, Colorado to their new home in Albuquerque, New Mexico she had no idea what was waiting for her, starting literally at the first stoplight in town. Her career would span more than forty years, bringing her into daily contact with crafty politicians, pueblo Indians, justices of the peace, and an improbable cast of clients—from nuclear scientists and Ziegfeld Follies stars to arsonists, hoboes, and petty criminals. And, to make life more interesting, she and her husband and their children ran a small farm at the same time. The days started early, the work was hard, and then it was time to go to the office, where the day was long, the work was hard, and then it was time to go home. She recalled that she was challenged by men who said that she couldn’t be a real lawyer because she was a woman, or had calluses on her hands or because she drove a pickup. They all changed their minds once they got into court.