GLENDALE, Ariz. — Judge Elizabeth Finn has spent 42 years on the bench. You can say law runs in her blood.
Now, her time on the bench comes to an end as she goes into retirement.
Finn's father was a lawyer who fought for civil rights and fought to end segregation in Phoenix. Her mother was a member of the founding class at ASU College of Law at the age of 48.
Finn graduated two years after her mother in 1972. There were very few women practicing law back then.
"They would say, 'The judge won't meet with the secretary,' and I would say, 'No I'm the lawyer,’ and I turned the paperwork around and showed them my name on the paperwork," Finn told 12 News in an interview on Thursday.
Out of college, she worked for her father’s law firm and in 1979 was appointed judge in Phoenix. And, 24 years later, she became the presiding judge in Glendale.
In that time, she helped rewrite some of the domestic violence laws.
"I found the system was victimizing domestic violence victims all over again. We wanted them to become domestic survivors and not victims," Finn said.
She also established specialty courts for cases involving domestic violence, homelessness and mental health.
"What we’re talking about is a group of people that society has allowed to fall in a hole," Finn said.
"In creating these specialty courts to meet the needs of these defendants. So, they can become law abiding citizens and not get in trouble again."
Finn said she strived to make her courtrooms culturally diverse.
"I tried to make sure who we hired represents the community and who represents who is coming into our courts," Finn said.
The landscape for women in law has greatly changed since the early 1970s and Finn’s advice to future generations in simple.
"You need to find something you're passionate about and help make the world a better place," Finn said.