Daniel Mortimer Friedman (February 8, 1916 – July 6, 2011) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the Federal judiciary of ...

and previously was chief judge of the

United States Court of Claims The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims (), and abolished in 1982. Then, its jurisdiction was assumed by the n ...

Education and career

Born in

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Friedman received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1937, and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

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 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1942. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in September 1942 and was in the

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, including service in Europe during

World war II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

."Judge Daniel M. Friedman"
''United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: A History: 1990-2002''
compiled by Members of the Advisory Council to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2004, page 79. He was discharged in February 1946 as a master sergeant. 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 The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

, 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 United States Solicitor General in 1977.

Federal judicial service

On March 22, 1978, Friedman was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

to become

Chief judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

of the

, to the seat vacated by Chief Judge

Arnold Wilson Cowen Arnold Wilson Cowen (December 20, 1905 – October 28, 2007) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and previously was the chief judge of the United States Court of Claims. Education and ca ...

. Friedman was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

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 Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

of the Federal Courts Improvement Act, 96 Stat. 25, to be a United States Circuit Judge of the

. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on November 1, 1989, and served in that capacity until his death on July 6, 2011, in Washington, D.C.

Legacy

In cooperation with former clerks of Friedman, the Federal Circuit Bar Association in 2012 established the Friedman Memorial Committee to honor 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 Frank Hoover Easterbrook (born September 3, 1948) is an American lawyer, jurist, and legal scholar who has served as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 1985. He was the Seventh Circuit's chief ...

of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.Audio recording of the first Annual Lecture, featuring Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook, on November 16, 2012

References

Sources

*
FJC Court of Federal Claims biography of Daniel M. Friedman
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Daniel Mortimer 1916 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American judges Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Law School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Judges of the United States Court of Claims United States Army non-commissioned officers United States Army personnel of World War II United States Article I federal judges appointed by Jimmy Carter Lawyers from New York City