Lisa Aversa Richette (September 11, 1928 – October 26, 2007) was an American lawyer and judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County.
[4] During her funeral eulogy, Richette was described by Philadelphia Daily News staff writer Kitty Caparella as "a true Renaissance woman" who "wouldn't allow herself to be manipulated, intimidated, or marginalized," and who was also "a humanist who set her own agenda and mentored others, whether law students, homeless advocates, or defendants.
She also taught at Yale Law School and Villanova University as a visiting lecturer, and subsequently rose through the ranks to become chief of the Family Court Division of the Office of the District Attorney, a post which she held from 1956 to 1964.
[16] During the early 1970s, she continued to practice law while also heading the Hiroshima Program, a peace advocacy organization that sponsored a protest against the Vietnam War in August 1971.
[17] In December 1971, she was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County by Governor Milton Shapp, becoming one of the first women to hold that office.
In January 1980, she delivered the Theleia Legal Society's second annual seminar address to female law students at the University of South Carolina.
[27] A sitting member of Pennsylvania's judicial system for the remainder of her life, Richette was still serving as a senior Family Court judge at the time of her death in 2007.
Known for being a devout Catholic, Richette frequently delivered meals to homeless members of the community and also volunteered regularly for the Sisters of Mercy hospice in Center City Philadelphia.