JUERGENS, J. HELEN SLOUGH (10 Feb. 1908 - 7 July 1999) was an international patent lawyer who was one of the first women to join the Cleveland Bar Association. She was born in Elyria, Ohio, to Josephine C. (Herbert) and Frank M. Slough, a practicing attorney. She attended URSULINE COLLEGE and the Cleveland School of Law of BALDWIN WALLACE COLLEGE. In 1929 she was awarded a professional license and joined her father's law office. For many years, she was the only woman practicing patent law in Cleveland. She practiced in most appellate courts in the United States as well as at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, the King's Court in Sweden and the federal courts in Germany and South Africa. Her father retired in 1957, but she continued with the Slough & Slough firm until it was absorbed as the patent department of Squire Sanders & Dempsey in 1973. She remained with Squire Sanders for six years, then set up a solo practice in Rocky River. She retired in 1997.
Juergens was a past president of the National Association of Woman Lawyers and the Cleveland Patent Lawyers Association. She served as an officer of the WOMEN'S CITY CLUB. When once asked about how she could be so active, she responded, "You know, I found out I have to work twice as hard as any man, and I found you have to know twice as much, but fortunately neither one was difficult." In spite of much criticism and hostility from acquaintances, Juergens combined married life and motherhood with her career. She married Harold H. Juergens in 1930 and they had a son Robert. Juergens remains are buried in the Lakewood Park Cemetery in Westlake, Ohio.