Gladys Towles Root was a well-known criminal defense lawyer from Los Angeles, California. She was mainly recognized for her cross-examinations, an interrogation of an eyewitness called by a lawyer’s opponent. She was forced to focus on cases of murder and sexual assault since those were the only available cases for her when she started her practice.

Born in 1905, she was raised by her mother, Clara Dexter Towles, and her father, Charles Towles, in LA. During her study at USC School of Law, there were only a few women who practiced the course. After her graduation in 1930, she was not able to get a job so she decided to put up her own practice.

Gladys Root built her office at 212 South Hill Street, Los Angeles. She won more cases on sexual assault than any male or female lawyer in the United States. With her established practice, Gladys Root had courtroom appearances that averaged 75 every month in the course of her 52-year career. She maintained the rate of appearances even through her two pregnancies. There was even a time when her office handled 1,600 cases each year, handling more criminal cases than any other private law firm in the United States.

Not only was Gladys Root an attorney, she was also a law changer. In one case, a Filipino male sought help from her because he wanted to earn the right to marry his Caucasian girlfriend, who was, at that time, pregnant with his child. By way of thorough research, Root finally found the perfect argument that was based on the inappropriate categorization of the Filipino race. As a result, the law was declared unconstitutional and the couple eventually got married.

On December 21, 1982, Gladys Towles Root died of a heart attack while she was appearing in a courtroom in Los Angeles at the age of 77. That day, she was dressed in gold ready to defend two siblings who were accused of rape. At her Forest Lawn Glendale funeral, Root was dressed completely in gold. More than four thousand defense attorneys, clients, judges and prosecutors attended the media-covered burial.