Rhoda Lavinia Goodell (1839 – 1880), known as Lavinia Goodell, was an American attorney. She was the first woman licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and the first woman admitted to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. In 1880, she also became the first to litigate (and win) an appeal to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. She was a strong proponent of women's suffrage, abolition, temperance, and prison reform. She was also the first woman to run for city attorney.
The character from the Mary Tyler Moore show was afterwards the heroine of a spinoff series called Rhoda (what else?), in which she was again played by Valerie Harper.