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.