Natividad Almeda-Lopez was the first Filipino female lawyer to serve in government (Bureau of Justice), and rose to gain the highest position attained by a woman in Asia who served in government, when she was appointed Assistant Attorney General in 1921. She served as the first Presiding Judge of the Juvenile and domestic Relations Court. She was appointed to the Court of Appeals and became the first woman to attain the position of Justice in an Asian country.

She was one of the most respected Suffragists, who spoke before the Philippine Assembly in 1914 to demand for Filipino women the right to vote. Writer Gilda Cordero-Fernando called her "the first women's libber" because she did not quit her job as a government lawyer, but maintained a separate household in Manila, while her husband continued to stay in Lucena with his children by his first wife. The arrangement, according to GCF, initially scandalized Manila's society, but strengthened her image as a role model for women's rights advocates.

Natividad Almeda-Lopez was honored by the Philippine Postal corporation when a stamp was issued with her image in 1991. In the year 2001, Mayor Alfredo Lim named the road crossing Ayala Boulevard and Arroceros Street, beside the Manila City Hall, was named Natividad Almeda Lopez Street. Dona Nati held court in the City Hall of Manila in the 1940s.

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