ATTORNEYBUTLER.NET FOUL TIPS-A TALK WITH DAVID H. FRIED

Ed.  A post from February, 2009, 11 years ago now.  David was licensed in 1956.  This article is very relevant to the Lex Fugit project. I did make a couple of mistakes.  Firstly,  I didn't take David's picture at the time, and I can't find one on the Internet now.  And secondly, I didn't keep up with David like I should have.  I am not sure if he is still with us.  Though his law office shows up at the top of a Google search of his name, his office phone is disconnected and he is not currently a member of the Michigan Bar, even on emeritus status.  David Fried is not an uncommon name, and I can't find reliable information about David.  However, I do see a reference to a David Fried of about the same age I think, somewhere in Florida.  I hope that's him.  

"On Saturday, January 31, I sat down and talked with Detroit attorney David H. Fried. David does plaintiff personal injury and general civil work from his office in the Penobscot Building. A U of D Law School graduate and an US Army veteran, Mr. Fried is now beginning his fifty-third year practicing law. Starting out at a time when most Detroit attorneys had their only office in one of five "inner-ring" Detroit office buildings, David has continued to maintain his practice from a downtown office. Many, many firms have moved out of Detroit to places like Southfield, Troy and Farmington Hills over the years. A sole practitioner in a downtown office is quite a rarity these days.

David and I met years ago when we each had one of the many parties to a case involving a residential real estate transaction gone bad. These can be difficult cases and David represented the disappointed buyer. Through some prolonged litigation and negotiation, David impressed me with his grace and civility. He has the kind of presence and elegance that I would hope to find in our diplomatic corps.

Though we haven't had a case together since (plaintiff PI lawyers seldom do), I have seem him in action from time to time. He hasn't changed. I have seen him a few times in the Metro area and he has greeted me like I was a dear friend.

Most recently I saw him in a Livonia restaurant on New Years Eve afternoon. I was there with my family, having taken

e off during the holidays, as most attorneys do these days. David was there eating lunch on his way home from the office, having had his office open (though only a half day) on New Year's Eve. I asked if I could sit down with him and talk. You see, I am a fan.

As something of a history buff, I expected David Fried would teach me something about the past. What he did was teach me some things about the present, which was even better.

David still practices in the trenches. In an one-man office, he can't give the more "mundane" tasks of litigation to other attorneys. Even if he wanted to. But the thing is, he doesn't want to. He still gets to the office between 7:30 and 8 in the morning, and goes home between 5 and 5:30. While he doesn't come to the office on Saturdays like he used to, he still brings home a briefcase full of work every weekend.

When attorneys with far less experience despair of the alleged drudgery of the practice, the lack of civility, the lack of respect for the system and its practitioners, David offers perspective, and hope.

He continues to practice because he likes it. Contrary to popular belief, David feels that attorneys still practice with civility and honor towards the system and one another. We all realize that we are like boxers, he says, who have to give and take punches "in the ring', but lawyers today, just as in the past, do their jobs with integrity and with respect for each other. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. But, there have always been such, past, present, and ever will be.

David Fried states that he has had, and continues to have a good life, because he is a lawyer. That this comes from a man who, after over fifty years of practice, continues to do the work of lawyer, paralegal, research clerk all rolled into one, should inspire all practitioners. Even in these days of cutthroat competition, shrill advertising, dubious judicial decisions, and off-shore legal support services, the craft can continue to be practiced with civility, grace and honor.

Thanks, Mr. Fried for continuing to practice law like the gentleman you are, and for providing guidance, encouragement, and hope to a sometimes jaded old fox like me."