Mary Grossman left her job as a stenographer to study law at Cleveland Law School, graduating in 1912. She maintained a private Cleveland practice from 1912-1923. An ardent member of the League of Women’s Suffrage, in 1918 she became one of only two women admitted to membership in the ABA. Three years after the passage of the Twentieth Amendment, she was determined to exercise her right to vote and in 1923 voted for herself as she became the first woman in America elected to a municipal court bench. Criminals and critics called her “Hardboiled Mary,” but voters called her “Your Honor,” electing her for the next 41 years. She also served as a leader in numerous social welfare organizations.