First African-American woman admitted to the Illinois Bar, Ida Platt (Class of 1894).
First law school to win the National Trial Competition and the National Moot Court Competition in the same year, 2008.
First Hispanic, first woman, and first career prosecutor to be elected Cook County state's attorney, Anita Alvarez (Class of 1986).
First American law school to incorporate computer technology into legal education.
First female district attorney in the United States, Edna Covert Plummer (Class of 1907).
First three-year program in legal research, analysis, and writing at an American law school.
First chapters of Lambda Epsilon, predecessor of Phi Alpha Delta, now the world’s largest law fraternity.
First fee-generating law school clinic in the United States.
First woman to practice patent law in the United States, Florence King (Class of 1895).
First LL.M. program in international intellectual property law in the United States.
First woman president of the Chicago Bar Association, Esther Rothstein (Class of 1949).
First LL.M. program in financial services law in the United States.
First president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, Nettie Rothblum Loew (Class of 1909).
First successful insanity defense based upon post-traumatic stress disorder.
First Jewish governor of Illinois, Henry Horner (Class of 1898).
