
or through other Internet music sites. The “All My Love” CD is available by mail order by calling 1-888-889-8965, or by email at BUSORGS@aol.com Miami lawyer billed as ‘The Singing Attorney’ Associate Editor Richard Friedman stood at the podium in federal court, delivering his arguments in a trademark infringement case against State Farm Insurance. In a spontaneous burst of song, he belted out: “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” — complete with vibrato. “Yes, in the course of argument, I gave them this operatic thing. The late great Judge C. Clyde Atkins’ jaw dropped in shock. Five lawyers stared at me, stunned. And the jury just looked at me, like, `Huh?’ At least they didn’t dislike my singing. We did very well in that case.” Meet 60-year-old Friedman, a Miami lawyer who bills himself as “The Singing Attorney.” Don’t worry. He doesn’t make a habit of courtroom crooning. But he has launched a second, dual career as a singer, coming out with his second CD, “All My Love,” with famous love songs like “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” “Day and Night,” and “Shadow of Your Smile.” Every CD he sells, he promises to make a $1 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation that makes dreams come true for very ill children. For Friedman, who says he has been blessed with perfect pitch and timbre, it’s a fun way to use the creative side of his brain after a long day of using his intellect as a lawyer. For 35 years, he has dedicated himself to such things as acquisitions and mergers, corporate law, and securities law. “There’s an intellectual challenge to the law. I’m filing an emergency injunction for a client in about an hour. I like the intellectual challenge of fighting in court,” Friedman said. “But music is my aesthetic soul. I’m a lyricist and poet, and I’m working on an album of all original stuff. I hope also that by doing this, I can help improve the image of lawyers. I think a lot of people think lawyers are very stodgy, very intense and serious, and we spend too much time thinking about books and papers, and we don’t have a life. A lot of lawyers have hobbies or side businesses that keep them balanced. This is my balance.” Friedman doesn’t golf or sail or play tennis like other lawyers trying to find balance in their competitive, stressful lives. But he does love to sing in front of an audience, and the bigger the better. At Miami’s Pro Player Stadium in 1995, he sang the National Anthem to an audience of 75,000, revving up the fans before the Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills. About 20 people came up to him afterwards, offering heartfelt compliments, including one from an 11th Circuit Court judge who said: “I didn’t know you could sing! Wonderful!” Later that year, after performing at the Democratic Party state convention at the Fountainbleu Hotel, a nice lady came over and said, “Your singing brought me to tears.” That’s a lot more kudos than he’s ever gotten as a lawyer, he laughed. And that was all the encouragement Friedman needed to take the plunge and record his singing and sell it through his self-produced album he is promoting on the Internet. First there was “For Love of Country,” a compilation of 15 patriotic songs, released on when else? the Fourth of July, 1996, with five percent of the proceeds going to veterans’ groups. While he sends some profits to good causes and has performed at many charitable events — “It’s a way of giving back if I’m fortunate enough to sell a lot of albums” — make no mistake about it: Friedman treats his labor of love as a business. “Otherwise I would go bankrupt,” he said of his music-publishing business, All-Star Music Corporation, that he operates out of his law office. This latest musical venture, he said, took 17 months, with two arrangers, printing costs and graphic designers. “Many of my lawyer buddies buy the album. Most of them really get a kick out of it,” Friedman said. “My clients buy my albums, and don’t feel like it in any way trivializes what I do for them legally.” As Richard Newberg, an investment banker and old friend told the Jewish Star Times: “This man, whose singing has improved tremendously over the years, is a big supporter of charitable causes, a substantial contributor and a very decent human being. He’s also an excellent attorney, a rare combination.” Even a high-school friend he obtained a $300,000 judgment against sent him a letter praising his vocal talent. Friedman remembers singing at the top of his lungs when he was just a kindergartner walking to school. “Remember that movie, `Calamity Jane,’ with Doris Day? I loved that movie! She sang `Secret Love,’ and I remember walking to school and singing that song out loud. In the old days, they made a lot of musicals where the actors would just start singing. And I thought, `Hey, that’s the way I want to live!’” His dramatic side, nurtured in college before he went to the University of Miami Law School in 1961, reaped him a role as the prosecuting attorney in the movie, “Lenny,” starring Dustin Hoffman. Yet, there has long been that serious side that led him to the law. When he was 11, he knew he wanted to be a lawyer, inspired by a book he read about Clarence Darrow. “I have a great passion for the law and for singing, so why should I give up either one?” he asked. When he allows himself to daydream, he wants to win a Grammy and headline an act in Vegas. Instead of Frank Sinatra’s name in lights on the big marquee, it would say, “Richard Friedman, The Singing Attorney.” Now that would be something to crow about. July 1, 2001 Jan Pudlow Associate Editor Regular News Miami lawyer billed as ‘The Singing Attorney’
