Remembering Julian Friedman
Julian W. Friedman—a commercial litigator whose intellect, easygoing nature, and genuine concern for others defined a long and successful career—died on August 10 after a lengthy but quiet battle with cancer. He was 78.
Julian was a devoted husband and father. He and his wife, Ronnie, recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary. They traveled the world, hosted friends, faithfully attended U.S. Open tennis matches, and lived only a few neighborhoods away from their beloved children: son, Andrew, daughter-in-law, Ginger, and grandchildren Simeon and Hazel in North Jersey. A die-hard Mets fan, Julian took his son to spring training in Florida every year. Once Andrew’s children were old enough, they continued that tradition together.
He graduated in 1966 from the University of Pennsylvania and earned his law degree from Columbia Law School. He began as a broad-based commercial litigator and, over the years, built a successful practice focused on representing securities and commodities brokers and dealers, companies, and their officers and directors in litigation, investigations, and administrative proceedings.
Julian founded the prominent litigation and white collar boutique Stillman & Friedman in 1977 with his friend and mentor Charles Stillman. He joined Ballard Spahr in the summer of 2013, when the two firms merged, creating Ballard Spahr’s New York office. Together, Charlie and Julian welcomed dozens of attorneys who practice in the areas of finance, intellectual property, business and transactions, real estate, and litigation. The office is now home to more than 35 lawyers.
Julian was a superb attorney, named to The Best Lawyers in America for administrative and regulatory law every year since 2007-2022 and named its "Lawyer of the Year" for New York City in 2014.
“Julie was an outstanding lawyer, but he was also an outstanding person and a rock-solid business partner. I am a blessed man to have had him as my friend for half a century,” Charlie said. “Julie was totally dedicated to his family and to the people he worked with—fair-minded, kind, and so very smart. He was just an easy person to be with, and he will be deeply missed.”
“The man was an absolute gem of a person,” said Marjorie Peerce, a Ballard Spahr White Collar Defense/Internal Investigations Partner who joined in the Stillman & Friedman merger. “He was an outstanding lawyer whose family was the center of his life. I literally never saw him lose his cool. He was a delight to practice law with and to be around … the consummate gentleman with a kind word for everyone who crossed his path.”
“He was just a good human. How else can I put it? I worked with him 40 years, and I’m blessed for that,” said Christine Natoli, his longtime Legal Administrative Assistant. “He created a work culture that was so good, people didn’t leave. That doesn’t happen often these days. He treated people with respect and decency, always. You felt that he cared about you.”
Services will be held Sunday, August 14 at 11 a.m. Gutterman and Musicant, 402 Park Street, Hackensack, New Jersey. Burial will follow at Cedar Park Cemetery, 735 Forest Avenue, Paramus, New Jersey.
Shiva will be held at the Friedman residence, at 15 Carol Court, Demarest, New Jersey, on Sunday, from 6 to 8 p.m. and on Monday, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m.