David Friedman

Biography Overview

David D. Friedman’s areas of practice spans a diverse array of personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout New York and New Jersey, handling some of the firm’s most significant construction site accidents and premises cases. He counsels and represents injured construction workers, laborers, union members, accident victims, and their families, at all stages of litigation, from commencement through trial and appeals. David also heads the firm’s New York Worksite Injury and Labor Law practice, focusing on cases where the negligent and reckless behavior of companies and individuals result in causing catastrophic physical and emotional injuries or death to innocent people and their families.
 
David is an experienced litigator, with a reputation for finding creative solutions to complex problems. David made a commitment early in his career to dedicate his efforts and achievements on behalf of construction workers, laborers, union members, and accident victims who suffer catastrophic injuries or death, advising and representing them and their families in their greatest time of need. Clients particularly value his responsiveness, creative solutions, and his ability to achieve successful outcomes, while balancing the individual needs of each client during what is often their most stressful and difficult times. He is relentless in pursuing justice on behalf of his clients and has become a trusted advisor and passionate advocate for the rights of injury victims throughout New York and New Jersey.
 
While his practice is not confined to any one particular area of personal injury law, David specializes in bringing third-party lawsuits against liable parties when an injured worker is receiving Workers’ Compensation benefits from an employer and finding avenues for pursuing the compensation necessary to help injury victims through their recoveries. Unfortunately, because of the physical nature of construction, workers are more prone to workplace injuries than people in other professions. People who suffer on-the-job accidents can file for Workers’ Compensation Benefits and still pursue third-party claims against whoever caused their injuries. David specializes in securing the construction accident settlements and compensation that injured workers deserve from those negligent parties.
 
David is also regularly called upon to devise strategy in litigation and to handle complex negotiations against some of the biggest insurance companies in the world. While recognizing there are circumstances where negotiating the best possible settlement as soon as practicable during the litigation process would best serve his clients, David’s reputation is to prepare every case aggressively for trial. He prides himself on his thoroughness and attention to detail, believing that success for his clients is always best achieved through tireless preparation. Because of this, he is often able to negotiate substantial settlement awards for his clients prior to trial and has successfully obtained numerous multi-million-dollar-sum settlement awards on behalf of his clients at mediation.
 
In recognition of his achievements, David has been recognized by his peers as a Super Lawyer every year since 2017, identifying him as being among the top 5% of New York personal injury trial lawyers.  He also has been recently honored as one of the top trial lawyers for personal injury in New York State by The National Trial Lawyer.
 
Prior to joining the firm, David worked at another Manhattan law firm handling exclusively plaintiff personal injury cases. Previously, he was at a boutique litigation firm on Wall Street, where he handled all phases of civil and commercial litigation matters in trial and appellate courts.
 
David has prior government experience working at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.  He was also a legal intern with the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY, and served as a judicial intern in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division.
 
David graduated with honors from Columbia Law School, where he received his Juris Doctorate as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Executive Editor of the Columbia Journal of Tax Law. While in law school, David was a student attorney with Columbia University’s Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic, Vice President of the Jewish Law Students Association, and a member of the Columbia Business and Law Association.  
 
He is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey.