Insight
Profiles
Ni,a0ASMIVAN.aniiY
Washington Bound
Local attorney Lawrence Friedman appointed to high-level Justice Department job.
_ L awrence A. Friedman of West Bloomfield
has been appointed by U.S. Att. Gen. John
Ashcroft as the nation's top bankruptcy
watchdog.
Friedman, 45, an attorney since 1984 and a
partner in the Southfield law firm of Friedman &
Kohut since 1995, was sworn in March 4 as direc-
tor of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees at the
Justice Department. He will oversee the govern-
ment's involvement in every bankruptcy case in
the United States.
The job is one of 36 cabinet-type positions in
the Justice Department under Ashcroft. Equal to
that of the FBI director, the job makes Friedman
one of the highest-ranking Jews in President
George W. Bush's administration.
"It's a high honor to be appointed to this posi-
tion, and I, and the people in my organization,
will do our best to protect the rights of creditors
in bankruptcy cases," Friedman said.
The Executive Office for U.S. Trustees has
1,200 employees in Washington, D.C., and at 94
regional offices throughout the country, including
an office in downtown Detroit. Following a recent
Lawrence Friedman
5 percent pay increase for federal workers, the job
carries a salary of $140,500 a year.
Family Legacy
Since 1990, Friedman has served as a Chapter 7
and Chapter 11 trustee for the Eastern District of
Friedman's grandfather, Harry Shapiro, with his
Michigan, and has handled more than 12,000
partner, Bennett Fenberg, established Colonial
bankruptcy matters during that time. Trustees
Department Store in the 1920s, the first to sell
oversee the administration of bankruptcy cases,
goods under the credit concept. Friedman's father,
investigate the financial affairs of debtors and help
David, had the job of making sure customers paid
liquidate their assets to pay creditors. He has testi-
their bills, launching lawsuits, if necessary.
fied several times before the U.S. Senate
"It's sort of ironic because he protected the store as
Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight in the
a creditor ... and I've been protecting the people as
Courts and lectured extensively on consumer
creditors of large corporations," said Friedman.
bankruptcy issues.
David Friedman, 82, is a retired lawyer and proper-
Last September, he was elected president of the
ty management specialist living in West Bloomfield.
National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, corn-
Friedman's mother, Beatrice, died of cancer when he
posed of 1,100 members who look after the rights of was 7. He attended Southfield-Lathrup High School,
creditors in bankruptcy cases.
Hillsdale College -- one of only six Jews there at the
Friedman starts his new job at a time of record
time — and Thomas M. Cooley Law School in
bankruptcy filings in the U.S. He will be responsi-
Lansing. Between college and law school, he worked
ble for implementing the U.S. Bankruptcy Reform as a shuttle van driver, bartender, at a car dealership
Act of 2001, passed by Congress last year. In the
and as a part-time Farmington Hills police officer.
works for six years, the measure is now being
"I always wanted to work as a General Motors
ironed out by congressional conferees. He also will sales rep, and they finally offered me a job ... but I
help investigate the high-profile Enron and Kmart
decided law school was the best thing for me at the
bankruptcy reorganizations.
time," he reflected. "As it turned out, I was right."
Ashcroft said in a statement that he is confi-
Friedman is single, with custody of three teenage
dent Friedman "will carry out his mandate to act
children in the West Bloomfield School District.
as an agent of positive change ... to improve the
The family belongs to Temple Israel. He will com-
fairness and effectiveness of the American bank-
mute to the new position until June, when he will
ruptcy system."
move the family to the Washington, D.C., area ❑
Remember
When •-• •
From the Jewish News pages this week
10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
19
33
„..116SMSBOAW, 1:c,j! A—Axtm,„.
West Bloomfield and the Lubavitich
Foundation end a three-year dispute
and building of the Synagogue
Campus of Living Judaism is allowed.
The Bloomfield Players open
"Fiddler on the Roof,” their fifth
musical production.
The first test-tube baby born in Israel
is delivered at the Hebrew University-
Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.
Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue
in Willemstad, Curacao, marks the
250th anniversary of the oldest syn-
agogue building in continuous use
in the Western Hemisphere.
Congregation B'nai Israel-Beth
Yehudah of Southfield announces their
new spiritual leader, Rabbi Yoel Sperka.
j .
•
Two Jewish fraternities, Sigma Alpha
Mu and Alpha Epsilon Pi, are being
revived at the University of Michigan.
Mrs. Louis Perlman of Highland
Park, Ill., is elected chairman of the
Bnai Brith Youth Commission, the
first time in its 128-year history
that a woman has been chosen as
chairman of one of its agencies.
,
„skAUAA,
A Michigan Jewish War Veterans
unit will join in honoring Lord
Mayor Robert Briscoe of Dublin,
who, with Detroit Mayor Jerome
Cavanagh, will lead Detroit's St.
Patrick's Day parade.
Israeli Prime Minister Ben-
Gurion abolishes 13-year-old night
curfew for 45,000 Arab residents
living near the Jordan Border.
WICIUNVA:N.AZ\NZI
Detroiter Henry Winernan, found-
ing president of the Jewish Welfare
Federation, was named as the sec-
ond recipient of the annual Butzel
Award for distinguished communal
service.
Temple Beth El's Rabbi B.
Benedict Glazer announces the for-
mation of a Young Marrieds Group
at the Detroit congregation.
— Compiled by Holly Teasdle,
certified archivist, the Rabbi Leo M
Franklin Archives of Temple Beth El.