Paula Laddey

Mar 26, 2026

in 1870-1889 (Born), Immigrant (born outside the Continental US), Law and Law Enforcement, Social Work, Civic and Philanthropy

1880-1966

Paula Laddey was an early woman lawyer in Newark serving from 1913-1950, during some of which she had her own Newark office. She served eight years as the assistant probation officer of Essex County. In 1914, she became attorney and executive secretary of the Legal Aid Society of New Jersey, in Newark, where she handled 1500 cases a year, for those who got afford legal aid.

Born in Germany, Paula Laddey was the daughter of suffragist Clara Laddey. The family emigrated to Kearney around 1888, and between 1915 and 1920 moved to 493 Summer Ave.

Paula attended New York University and the New York School of Philanthropy and worked briefly as a Kindergarten teacher. She joined the Bureau of Associated Charities, where she was appointed to the probation office after Mary Philbrook and worked there 8 years.

Paula also worked on women’s rights like her mother, working with the New Jersey Women’s Suffrage Association and League of Women Voters.

Paula graduated New Jersey Law School in 1911, following her brother and one year after the first women including Laura Mayo Wilson. However, Paula passed the Bar in March 1913, before Wilson who passed in August.

After passing the Bar, Paula worked as the attorney for Legal Aid, and after about 5 years began running her own practice at 11 Clinton Street. At some point, she began practicing with another female lawyer Beatrice Henry (Vernona B Henry), also a NJ suffragist, who passed the bar at age 46.

From the 1940s to 1954, Paula and her law partner Beatrice Henry operated the North Country Press in St. Alban’s Bay. In 1958, after the death of Beatrice in 1954, she moved in with her nephew David Laddey living in Puerto Rico and Arizona.

Paula was one of the original members of the National Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. She was also associated with the Business and Professional Women’s Club of the Oranges, the Contemporary Club of Newark, the Cosmopolitan Club of Montclair and the National Women’s Lawyer Association. She was a close friend of Sara Roosevelt, the mother of President Franklin D Roosevelt and a trustee of the State Home for Girls in Trenton. During World War I, she was active on the Legal Advisory Board in Newark.