Linda Nellene Coffee (born 1942) is an attorney living in Dallas,
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
. Coffee is best known for representing (along with her friend and co-counsel
Sarah WeddingtonSarah Ragle Weddington is a American attorney and lecturer from Texas who gained world-wide fame when she and Linda Coffee represented "Jane Roe" in the landmark Roe v. Wade case in the United States Supreme Court.-Family and education:She is the daughter of Lena Catherine and Rev...
)
Norma McCorveyNorma Leah McCorvey , better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned individual states' laws against abortion by ruling them unconstitutional...
(a.k.a. Jane Roe), a pregnant woman who desired an
abortionAn abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species...
, in the precedent-setting United States Supreme Court case
Roe v. WadeRoe v. Wade, , a landmark case decided by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion, is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history.In Roe v...
, in which many laws restricting abortion access were invalidated.
Coffee obtained her
Bachelor of LawsThe Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and which originated in England. It was established as a liberal arts degree, which requires that the student undertake a certain amount of study of the classics...
degree in February 1968, from the University of Texas, and was licensed to practice in Texas in May of that year.
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Linda Nellene Coffee (born 1942) is an attorney living in Dallas,
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
. Coffee is best known for representing (along with her friend and co-counsel
Sarah WeddingtonSarah Ragle Weddington is a American attorney and lecturer from Texas who gained world-wide fame when she and Linda Coffee represented "Jane Roe" in the landmark Roe v. Wade case in the United States Supreme Court.-Family and education:She is the daughter of Lena Catherine and Rev...
)
Norma McCorveyNorma Leah McCorvey , better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned individual states' laws against abortion by ruling them unconstitutional...
(a.k.a. Jane Roe), a pregnant woman who desired an
abortionAn abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species...
, in the precedent-setting United States Supreme Court case
Roe v. WadeRoe v. Wade, , a landmark case decided by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion, is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history.In Roe v...
, in which many laws restricting abortion access were invalidated.
Coffee obtained her
Bachelor of LawsThe Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and which originated in England. It was established as a liberal arts degree, which requires that the student undertake a certain amount of study of the classics...
degree in February 1968, from the University of Texas, and was licensed to practice in Texas in May of that year. However, the
State Bar of TexasThe State Bar of Texas is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Bar is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas...
advises she is currently not eligible to practice in Texas.
Coffee was a frequent speaker on women's rights in Dallas; McCorvey approached her and asked for representation to challenge laws limiting access to abortion.
"Roe", whose real name is Norma McCorvey, now claims she became the "pawn" of two young and ambitious lawyers (Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee) who were looking for a plaintiff whom they could use to challenge the Texas state law prohibiting abortion.
Coffee was a member of the Women's Equity Action League, an organization working toward equal employment opportunities for women. She and Weddington agreed to take the case; as the petitioners, they challenged abortion law and won, thus invalidating several laws limiting access to abortions.