Honoring Alice Bright, Sidley’s First Woman Partner

Sidley has long created opportunities for trailblazing women in law. In honor of this Women’s History Month, we remember our first woman partner, Alice M. Bright (1917-1982).

Alice graduated second in her class from the University of Chicago Law School in the summer of 1941. She had already accepted a position in military intelligence in Washington, D.C., when partner Paul Harper persuaded her to come in for an interview at Sidley. She started with the firm not long after, and in 1956, she became not only our first woman partner, but also the first woman partner of a major Chicago law firm. A trusts and estates lawyer, Alice represented many high-profile Chicagoans, including two generations of the Wrigley family. 

In addition to her legal practice, Alice served as President of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, Chairman of the Probate Practice Committee of the Chicago Bar Association and authored the book “Contested Estates.”