Hon. Paul L. Friedman ’68 (Jaeckle Award 2022)

Prior to his appointment to the bench by President Clinton, Hon. Paul L. Friedman was:

• A partner in the international law firm White & Case and managing partner of its Washington office.
• An assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he worked on the Watergate case.
• An assistant to the solicitor general of the United States and argued six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• An associate independent counsel for the Iran/Contra investigation.

Judge Friedman grew up in North Buffalo and attended public schools. An early experience in small claims court made him consider law as a career. He went to Cornell for political science but was not sure what profession to pursue.

It was 1964-65, during the Vietnam War. Those in school could avoid the draft. He decided that law school made sense and entered NYU with a scholarship. Overwhelmed by New York City, he returned to Buffalo for law school, where Al Saperston offered him an internship and a job in his Buffalo law firm—but only if he worked hard and did well. “If I had stayed in Buffalo, I would have been happy there,” he said.

With only 84 law students in his class on West Eagle Street, it was a smooth transition from NYU. Cousin Bob Fine was in his class and cousin Alan Carrel was in the class ahead. Standout faculty members were Dean Jacob Hyman and Professors Wade Newhouse, Ken Joyce and Lou Del Cotto, “although I never really understood tax.” Professor William Hawkland, a nationally recognized expert on the Uniform Commercial Code, was dean. He remembers lively faculty interaction and socializing with the faculty.

Judge Friedman heard that clerking for a federal judge provided a draft deferment for Vietnam. He focused on Washington, D.C., because of the excitement engendered by JFK. Hon. Aubrey E. Robinson, a U.S. District Court judge who also had gone to Cornell, hired him as a clerk for one year. She wanted to give students from non-Ivy law schools a chance. Judge Friedman then clerked for Judge Roger Robb on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Goldwater’s personal lawyer, Judge Robb mentored Judge Friedman in Trial Technique.

Judge Friedman speaks about how meaningful it is to serve on the District Court with some of the same judges for whom he clerked.

Among his most significant cases were class-action lawsuits by Black farmers alleging decades of discrimination, and John Hinckley’s requests for unsupervised release from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.