Bryant was born in Queens, New York,[2] and graduated from Howard University with her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975 and later from University of Connecticut School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1978.

[2] During the period from 1981 to 1989 she was a counsel to Aetna Life & Casualty Company and to Shawmut Bank from 1989 to 1990.

She was counsel to, and later a partner of, the New York-based law firm of Hawkins, Delafield and Wood from 1992 to 1998 and the chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut, Bridgeport division from 1996 until she was appointed a Connecticut Superior Court Judge on September 1, 1998.

[4] Following her re-nomination, the ABA committee issued a revised opinion, rating her as "qualified".

[11] Bryant oversaw a lawsuit filed by attorney Konstantine Kyros on behalf of over 60 former professional wrestlers against WWE which alleged that the company did not protect its employees from head trauma.