Lester Morton Bridgeman, a Montrose resident who had practiced law in Mobile since 1987 and in Washington D.C. since 1954, died Thursday, March 6, 2014.
A native of Paterson, N.J., Mr. Bridgeman grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was a longtime resident of Alexandria, Va.
In 1943, he was attending Louisiana State University as a member of the football team when he volunteered for the army and was assigned to the 12th Armored Division. During the Battle of the Bulge, he was wounded in France and awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
After the war, Mr. Bridgeman graduated from Syracuse University with honors and then received his law degree from Columbia University.
After serving as an attorney for the Civil Aeronautics Board in Washington, he was a Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School.
He practiced law in Washington D.C. for more than 30 years. Mr. Bridgeman’s practice was primarily in antitrust law, general commercial litigation and transportation — initially motor and rail matters, but ultimately the representation of a number of British, German, Italian, Argentine, Russian and Swedish airlines.
In 2001, he worked with his Russian client, the U.S. Navy, the Department of Transportation and Lockheed Martin to arrange the return of a Navy EP reconnaissance aircraft to the United States, which the Chinese had forced down on Hainan Island, China.
Mr. Bridgeman was the author of several articles on antitrust law in the regulated industries and was for many years air carrier editor, and later antitrust law editor, of the Journal of the Association for Transportation Law.
He was an avid sailor. He sailed the Potomac River, Chesapeake Bay and Mobile Bay for many years, as well as the Virgin Islands.
Mr. Bridgeman is survived by his wife, Ann Booker Bridgeman; two daughters, Andrea Bridgeman of McLean, Va., her husband, Steven Parker and their daughter, Hallie Mayhall Parker, and Judith Bridgeman Rolland and her husband, Jean Hugues Rolland of Paris, France; his wife’s children, Laura Curtright Jones and her children, Emory and Anabel Jones of Fairhope, and William Curtright and Dolly Thames Curtright, and their daughter, Mary Binion Curtright of Mobile; and several beloved cousins.
A memorial service will be held at Springhill Avenue Temple on Monday, March 10, 2014, at noon, with a reception to follow.
Memorials may be made to Springhill Avenue Temple, 1769 Springhill Ave., Mobile, AL 36607, or to Mobile Opera, Larkins Music Center, 257 Dauphin St., Mobile, AL 36602.
Arrangements by Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home, Daphne.
