Marna Tucker, one of Washington, D.C.’s most prominent attorneys, was born in Philadelphia and raised in Houston, Texas. Upon graduation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1965, Tucker was anxious to go to the South to try civil rights cases, but the Justice Department was wary of hiring women to work in the dangerous climate of the South. Instead, Tucker took a position with the newly-formed Neighborhood Legal Services Program which provided legal representation to the poor. It was the beginning of a life-long commitment to legal services and women’s rights.

She went on to become deputy director of the western region of the legal services program of the Office of Economic Opportunity. During this time, Tucker was one of the leaders in the battle to keep the California Rural Legal Assistance Program from being wiped out by Governor Ronald Reagan’s administration.