Quick Facts
Biography
Daniel Mortimer Friedman (February 8, 1916 – July 6, 2011) was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Born in New York, New York, Friedman received an A.B. from Columbia University in 1937, and an LL.B. from Columbia Law School in 1940. He entered private practice in New York City until 1942, and was briefly an attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. in 1942 before serving in the United States Army during World War II, from 1942 to 1946.
Friedman spent more than 60 years in legal service to the United States. Following his military service, he returned to the Securities and Exchange Commission until 1951, when he became assistant chief of the appellate section of the Antitrust Division in the United States Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C. In 1959, he joined the Office of the United States Solicitor General, serving as an assistant to the solicitor general from 1959 to 1962, then as a second assistant to the solicitor general until 1968, and then as first deputy solicitor general until 1978. He was the acting U.S. Solicitor General in 1977.
On March 22, 1978, Friedman was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to become Chief judge of the United States Court of Claims, succeeding Wilson Cowen. Friedman was confirmed by the Senate on May 17, 1978, and received his commission on May 19, 1978. When the Court of Claims was abolished during the Reagan Administration he was reassigned on October 1, 1982, by operation of the Federal Courts Improvement Act, to be Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He assumed senior status on November 1, 1989, and served in that capacity until his death.
In cooperation with former clerks of Judge Friedman, the Federal Circuit Bar Association in 2012 established the Friedman Memorial Committee to honor Judge Friedman's memory, spirit, and accomplishments. The Committee organizes a prestigious annual lecture, the Judge Daniel M. Friedman Appellate Lecture, to advance the field of appellate advocacy. The first annual lecture on November 16, 2012, featured Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.